The Forbidden Road to Travel
by ReadingIsForNerds
Summary: Jonathan has a plan to bring down his father and it centers around having Clary at his side. She has been the only one to ever love him. Jonathan wants her to be his Queen when he takes over the Clave from his father and begins to try and convince her that they are meant to be together. Will she go along with his plan and will he convince her to be with him? Clonathan
1. Chapter 1

**There is a reason this story is rated M. There will be strong language and strong sexual content. If either of those things make you uncomfortable, then don't read this story.**

 **With that being said, proceed at your own risk and hopefully enjoy the story.**

* * *

 _"Jonathan." I say with desire. He is shirtless and in black boxer briefs as he walks towards me. I am laying on my bed, propped up on my elbows, in a white lacy bra and a matching lacy thong. Jonathan's eyes trail hungrily up my body as he leans over and begins to climb onto the bed without a word. "What are you doing?" I ask him. He just smirks that sexy as smirk of his at me as his fingers start to graze up my lower leg and then up to my thigh as he climbs further up my bed._

 _My breathing is ragged and giving me away. I am not pushing him away like I should. Instead, all I can think about it how I want his hand to slide to my inner thigh and for him to touch me. The next thing I know, his face is hovering above my stomach and I can feel his hot breath tickle the tiny hairs just under my belly button. I suck in a breath and hold it as his tongue darts out and he begins to lick up my stomach. I close my eyes at the sensation and let my head fall back. His tongue is getting higher; leaving a wet path in between my breasts and I let out the breath I have been holding. I bring my head back up and see that his face is right in front of mine. He looks down to my lips and starts to move forward..._

"Fuck!" I say in frustration as I sit up straight in bed. "Not another one of those dreams again." I say quietly to myself. I have been having sexual dreams about my brother for the past few months and they are really starting to mess with my head. There must be something really wrong with me because I am still turned on; unable to shake the desire I had for him in my dream.

It's not like I don't know that my brother is really, really hot. I would have to be blind in order for me _not_ to know that. It's that he is my brother and I should be disgusted and weireded out by the dream instead of completely turned on.

I kick the covers off of my sweat soaked body and my feet hit the plush carpet in my room. I close my eyes for a moment trying to regain my composure before I walk downstairs to breakfast. I have over slept by fifteen minutes and I don't have the time I usually have to take a shower. I look down and make sure I am decent enough to meet Jonathan downstairs. Father has left for a few days and I am glad that I don't have to get fully dressed for the day to eat breakfast like he makes me. I am just in a tight white tank top and no bra with some tight short black shorts. The shirt is pulled so tightly around my chest that you can practically see everything. I briefly consider just going down in just what I am wearing to see what Jonathan's reaction will be and then quickly regain my sanity. "He. Is. Your. Brother." I say slowly to myself.

I grab my thin and short robe off the back of my bathroom door and brush my bed hair down and check myself in the mirror before heading down. I don't have any smudged makeup around my eyes and the flush on my cheeks from dream are almost gone. I take a deep breath to clear my head of the dream and leave my room. I make my way downstairs and take a hard left to face the other direction and walk to the back of the manor where the kitchen is.

I enter the kitchen and see that Jonathan is facing away from me at the stove and is already scooping some eggs onto his plate that the cook, Marisol, made. Of course, he is shirtless and when his muscles flex in his back, I blush at the memory of my dream. I look away from him and move towards the plates so I can fix some breakfast for myself. Jonathan turns to me then.

"Why are you blushing, Clary?" Jonathan asks me with obvious curiosity.

I immediately get defensive. "I am _not_ blushing!" I snap loudly back at him. Sure, Clary, he won't be suspicious at all at my pure overreaction of his simple and innocent question.

He furrows his brows at my sudden outburst as he brings a piece of bacon to his mouth and takes a bite. "Someone is just a tab bit defensive." he states as he steps away from the stove with his food. I close my eyes and tell myself to get a grip before I open them again. When I do, I scoop some eggs and bacon and a blueberry muffin onto my plate and make my over to my spot at the table across from Jonathan. I am suddenly hot after my little blushing incident and undo the tie on my robe and let it fall open before I sit down.

I take my seat and pick up my fork and stab a piece of he eggs and bring it to my mouth. When I look up, Jonathan is chewing his food slowly as his eyes focus on my chest. I look down and see that he can see my breasts through the thin material and I blush again and look up at him as I pull my robe closed again. I look up to Jonathan to see him smiling sexily at me. "You don't have to cover up around me, Clary. After all, I am just your brother." he says in a cocky tone.

I narrow my eyes at him trying to decipher the meaning behind his words as he begins to speak again. "And it's not like you have anything to be ashamed of. You seem to have a great rack from what I could see."

My mouth pops open in surprise at his words and I begin to blush again. He is smiling mischievously at me while I try to think of something to say back to him. "What...why...you're my brother." is all I manage to choke out. I don't know what else to say. A part of me is flattered that he was looking while the more logical part of my brain screams at me that I shouldn't be flattered because he is my brother.

I look back up to him and he seems thoroughly amused at my flustered state and one side of his mouth turns up into half of a smile. "Your blushing again." he says coolly as he takes a bite of his bacon. I look down at my food and let my hair fall over my face effectively hiding it from his view. Usually when he would say something like that, I would come back at him with a smart-ass remark but right now, I can't seem to think of anything smart-assy to say. The dream I had is still too fresh in my mind for me to form coherent thoughts and sentences when he says things like that. Thinking about how my heart was pounding in my dream at his touch..."train?"

Oh crap. He said something. "What?" I say to him not looking up from my plate.

"I said, do you want to train after this?" Jonathan says in a very normal voice. Before I know what I am saying, I agree with a shrug of my shoulders and a "Yeah, why not." that casually slips out of my mouth. He stands up then and walks away. I take this chance to look at his back and he doesn't look the slight bit tense like I am sure I do. He sets his empty plate in the sink and leaves the room without looking back at me. When he is around the corner, I let my head fall to the top of the table in frustration and confusion.

Why is my own brother flirting with me? He has been doing it a lot lately. Making wildly inappropriate remarks or smiling sexily at me while eyeing my body. I know that he is not like normal people because of his demon blood but could he really want me like that? I am his sister and a very plain looking woman in my opinion. Everyone always tells me and my father how pretty I am but I just always chalked that up to them trying to suck up to me and him. But that still doesn't explain why _I_ am having these feelings. Maybe there is something wrong with me too.

* * *

We have been training for the past two hours and I can't seem to concentrate. "AGAIN!" I yell at Jonathan. I can't stand it when he pins me over and over again. Usually I can get the better of him a third of the time, but not today. I have too many things running through my head that shouldn't be running through my head. Like watching Jonathan's muscles flex when he moves or thinking about the way he keeps looking at me. I push him off of me in frustration as he smirks down at me. Not to mention the tension between us is almost too thick to breathe through. I am so confused by the feelings that I have been having for him lately and he is certainly _not_ helping with his sexually charged remarks. "What? Do you want to be on top?" he says playfully to me as he hovers over me.

I push off of the floor and shove the hair that has escaped my bun off of my forehead as I glare at Jonathan's shirtless retreating body. I am only wearing a sports bra and tight yoga pants to train in and he is wearing some very low riding black sweat pants that reveal a lot of his perfect body. He walks over to the stereo and turns on Closer by Nine Inch Nails and turns the volume up. I raise my eyebrows at the back of his head in surprise and disbelief while he picks up his water bottle and lifts it up to take a sip as the music starts to play.

 _You let me violate you._

 _You let me desecrate you._

 _You let me pentrate you._

 _You let me complicate you._

My mouth falls open a little in surprise at the lyrics. Why did he pick this song to play? Just then he turns around as he grabs a white towel and scrubs it down his face and I watch his muscles flex unable to help myself. I mentally slap myself across my face to get a grip as he tosses the towel back on the bench. Dammit, he looks so hot.

 _Help me! I broke apart my insides._

 _Help me! I've got no soul to sell._

 _Help me! The only thing that works for me.._

 _Help me get away from myself._

Jonathan looks up to me then and gives me his sexy crooked smirk.

 _I wanna fuck you like an animal._

 _I wanna feel you from the inside._

To my amazement, he actually winks at me after those lyrics and I can't help but grit my teeth and charge at him in half anger and half desire. I tackle him to the ground to try and let out some of my sexual frustration as the song continues.

 _I wanna fuck you like an animal._

 _My whole existence is flawed._

 _You get me closer to God!_

He flips me over and then he is hovering over me as he pins my arms to the mat while he straddles me. I wrap my legs around his waist and twist my body so he falls to the right and I roll on top of him. I bare my teeth at him slightly in frustration as he smiles up at me like he is having the time of his life.

 _You can have my isolation._

 _You can have the hate that it brings!_

 _You can have my absence of faith._

 _You can have my everything._

"You know you can have it all, Clary. All of me." Jonathan says lowly to me as I straddle him. "You are the only one who can." His voice is low and sexy and sends shivers down my spine. He bucks his hips hard and flips me over his head to where I land on my back as he moves like lightening to straddle me to the floor. He lowers himself to where his body is just barely touching mine.

 _Help me! You tear down my reason._

 _Help me! It's your sex I can smell._

 _Help me! You make me perfect._

 _Help me become somebody else!_

"I want you, Clary." Jonathan says as his hot breath blows across my face. "I _need_ you. Only you make everything better. We were made for each other. I want you to be my Queen and my Goddess. You are mine and I am yours."

"Jonathan." I say. My voice is barely audible. "This is wrong. We can't. You're my brother." I mean for my voice to hold conviction but instead it just sounds like meaningless words coming out of my mouth recited from a script.

 _I wanna fuck you like an animal._

 _I wanna feel you from the inside._

 _I wanna fuck you like an animal._

 _My whole existence is flawed._

 _You get me closer to God!_

He smiles knowingly down at me as he sees my resolve breaking down in my eyes. "You know you don't care about that. Our blood makes us practically strangers."

"But, Jonathan." I say breathily. I meant it to come out as I protest but instead, it ended up sounding like how a woman would say her lover's name. He is hovering over me still with my hands pinned to the floor on either side of my head. We are both breathing heavily and my heart is hammering in my chest, and it's not because we are training. It is pounding because I want to kiss him. I want to run my hands down his chest and watch his eyes roll back in his head at my touch. I want his hands all over me no matter if he is _technically_ my brother or not.

My eyes have been locked with his this whole time and then I make the mistake of looking down at his lips. They are full and pouty and parted slightly and I lick my lips as twisted desire runs through me. "Fuck it." I say as I lean up and press my lips to his. He moans a low and throaty moan into my mouth that I have never heard from him before and it sets my insides on fire. I wiggle my wrists to let him know that I want him to let me go and he obliges. I yank them out of his grasp and throw them up and into his sweat soaked hair as I shove my tongue into his mouth...

* * *

Jonathan and I haven't always been like this. We were fairly normal siblings most of my life with the exception of his demon blood and my angel blood. I could say that it started when I was five and my father found me and my mother in hiding and took me from her, but if I had to pick one pivotal moment, I would have to say it really started about two weeks ago at a dinner. I had been sitting on my bed after I got dressed and was thinking about the day Father and Jonathan found me. We can come back to this moment later to find out what exactly happened between us, but for now, here is what has happened the past two weeks that has led to this seriously fucked up moment...

 _"Simon!" Clary yelled loudly. "Where did you go? I give up!" Clary and her best friend Simon were playing hide and seek on the playground in kindergarten. Simon was definitely the best five year old hider of the two and Clary always had trouble finding him. She walks around the slide and looks behind it just as she sees Simon go running by, giggling wildly. "Hey!" she shouts as she turns to take off after him. Simon may be the best hider but Clary was definitely the faster of the two. Just as she is about to take off, she feels strong hands come down around the tops of her arms. She turns to see the person who is holding onto her and is met with an older man with dark brown eyes and white blonde hair._

 _"What do you want?" she says with annoyance. He is causing her to lose and she doesn't like to lose._

 _"Clarissa, dear." The man says gently. "I have something to tell you."_

 _She looks at him in confusion trying to figure out how this guy knew her name. She was pretty sure she had never seen him before and her mom had told her all about stranger danger. "Who are you?" Clary says as she takes a cautious step back._

 _The man smiles warmly at her as he brings his hand up to push the hair out of her face. "That is what I have to tell you." he says sweetly to her. She furrows her brows as he crouches down to be at eye level with her. "I know your mommy, Jocelyn, told you that your daddy died before you were born, but she was wrong." He smiles even wider at her. "I want to tell you that I am your father and that I didn't die."_

 _Clary looks at him skeptically for a moment as she shifts her weight uncomfortably. "But mommy said that my daddy died. How do I know that you aren't a liar?" she asks him innocently._

 _"Because," he says as he grabs her hands gently. "I know that your mommy likes to paint. And when she does, she scrunches her eyebrows together like she is thinking really hard about something and she gets this little line in between her eyes that looks like the letter T. I also know that she loves the song 'winkin, blinkin, and nod' and that she sings it to you before bed every night and her favorite food is spinach pizza."_

 _Clary makes a face of disgust as she thinks about the spinach pizza her mom loves and the man laughs at her scrunched up face. "How do you know all of that?" Clary asks the man as soon as he stops laughing._

 _"Because, Clarissa, I am married to your mommy and I am your father." His eyes are honest and unwavering and Clarissa brings her hand up to the large heart shaped freckle on his neck. She touches it and then pulls her hand back to touch the same freckle on her neck. The one that she hates so much. "We have the same heart." Clary says lowly in shock to him and he gives her a blinding smile. "We do have the same heart." he says to her. She brings her eyes back up to meet his and studies him for a minute before saying, "Daddy?" unsurely._

 _The man smiles widely at this and then pulls her in for a big hug. Clary slowly wraps her arms around his neck as he crushes her tiny body to him. "I can't believe that my daddy is alive." she says as the excitement of having a daddy starts to fill her. She will have someone to beat up all of the annoying boys that she doesn't like and someone to carry her when she gets hurt like she saw Simon's daddy do when he broke his leg a few months ago. She pulls back from him with a smile on her face and jumps up and down in excitement. "Does mommy know that you didn't die?" she asks excitedly. "Because if she doesn't, we should go tell her! She will be so excited to see you!"_

 _"Clary?!" Simon yells from across the playground. "Who are you talking to?" he asks confused._

 _"It's my daddy!" she yells loudly and with pure excitement. Simon pushes his glasses up his nose as he looks baffled at what she said. "But there is no one there." he yells back to her._

 _"I think you need new glasses, Simon." she says exasperatedly. "He is right here!" and she points to her daddy who is smiling at her. Simon then looks even more confused before he starts to slowly walk back over to her. He father stands up and takes her hand and Clary smiles up at him. "I think we should go find mommy and tell her the good news." her father says to her. She jumps up and down in excitement and says, "Yeah! We should do it!" and he starts to lead her away. They walk over to the gate to the fenced in area and he scoops her up into his arms as he unlatches the gate. Clary looks over his shoulder at Simon who is looking to where she just was in confusion and acting like he can't see her anymore._

 _"Clary?!" he yells questioningly looking around._

 _Clary raises her hand and waves it wildly over her dad's shoulder. "Bye Simon! I'll see you later!" she yells at him but he still seems to not see or hear her as her dad carries her away. She turns to her dad and catches his eyes. "Simon really needs new glasses." she says seriously to him. "He couldn't even see me wave goodbye to him." Her father chuckles a little at this and then smiles at her. "You are probably right, Clarissa." he says as he stops in front of a large black SUV and opens the back door._

 _"You have a car?!" Clary yells excitedly. "You must be rich!"_

 _He laughs again as he puts her in the back seat. "There is so much to tell you, sweet one." He says as he scoots in the back with her. To her utter surprise, she feels someone tug on her hair. She reaches up to grab her head and then turns around and sees a little boy with white blonde hair and dark eyes like her daddy in the row of seats behind her. "Ouch." she says as she glares at him. He father turns around and spots the boy back there and gives him a stern look. "Apologize to your sister." he says authoritatively to him._

 _Clary darts her head back to her father in surprise and confusion as he looks down to her. "I was hoping to tell you another way, but this is your brother, Jonathan." He gestures to the boy in the back seat who is now glaring at her. She smiles widely at him and his face turns confused as Clary scrambles over the seat to get to him. She plops down in the seat next to his and then throws her arms around her brother's neck as she says "I have always wanted to have a brother or a sister!" Jonathan just sits there completely baffled as to why she is hugging him. He just pulled her hair. If it was him, he would still be mad at her. She pulls back to look at his confused face and then takes her hand up to his face and smooths out the lines of his expression and then puts her fingers on either side of his mouth and pulls it up in an effort to get him to smile._

 _"Clarissa, I wouldn't do that..." her father tries to warn her. She doesn't even pay him any attention as she smiles brightly at Jonathan as she tries to get him to smile. He looks into her bright green eyes studying her for a moment before he pulls his mouth into a smile. Clary's responding smile completely lights up her face and she throws her arms around his neck once more again and this time, Jonathan hesitantly brings his arms up and around his younger sister. At first, he thought that having another sibling to take more attention away from him from his father was going to be a horrible thing. He never thought in a million years that his sister would actually give_ him _more attention and be happy that he was there. He just assumed that she would be jealous and hate him right from the start the way he hated the other Jonathan for taking his father's attention away from him._

 _Clary pulls back and says, "We are going to be best friends forever, aren't we Jonathan?" He glances unsurely to his father who looks weary but nods his head and then he looks back to Clary and gives her a nod of his head in agreement and she squeals with excitement._

 _The SUV pulls away from the curb then as Clary's father watches his children with apprehension while she assaults him with questions. "How old are you?" she asks her brother. "I'm six." Jonathan says seriously. This is the first time he has spoken since she got in the car and she squeals with excitement again from hearing his voice. "What do you like to do for fun?" Clary asks him next. His eyes are trained directly into hers now as he is unwilling to look away from her. He finds her to be completely fascinating. "I like to fight."_

 _Clary scrunches up her face in confusion as she asks, "Fighting isn't fun. Don't you get hurt when you fight?" Her voice is laced with uncertainty and curiosity. "Sometimes. But only if I am not good enough. Most of the time, I am the one doing the hurting."_

 _"Does that mean that you will hurt me if we fight?" five year old Clary asks with a little trepidation to her voice. He studies her for a minute as he slightly tilts his head to the side in thought. Their father is watching their interaction with the most rapt expression. He is even more interested in what Jonathan will say than even Clary is. "I don't think I will." Jonathan finally says. His voice holds a little surprised tone to it as if he is surprised at his own answer._

 _"Good." Clary says sternly. "I don't think we could be best friends if you are going to hurt me and I want you to be my best friend and I want to be yours. Will you be mine and I yours?" she asks innocently. Jonathan smiles widely at her for the first time giving her his first genuine smile he has had in months. He likes the idea of her being his. Her being only_ his _best friend and belonging to no one else. Jonathan breaks eye contact with Clary then and looks to his father. "Can we keep her, Father?" he asks stunning him. He looks at his son as a warm smile spreads across his face and he replies. "Of course. We are never going to let her go again."_

 _Jonathan gives his father a huge smile as Clary reaches out and grabs his hand to hold. He looks down at her small hand in his and then back up to her smiling face as she says, "This is the best day EVER!"_

Looking back at that moment from a different perspective made me huff out a short and humorless laugh. 'If I only knew then what I know now' I think to myself. That I would never see my friend Simon or my mother again or that I would have to leave everything I ever knew, I wouldn't have been so willing to go with him. I was just so excited to have a father and a brother that I never bothered to wonder why he approached me by myself instead of when I was with my mother. I can't really blame myself though because I was only five years old and my mother never told me anything about who I really was. She never told me that my father was really alive and who he really was.

And anyway, it's not like I have had the most horrible life since then. It has been pretty descent. Father is a harsh man but I bring out the softer side of him. I think I am the only one who can do that with him. He likes to spoil me sometimes with things that I want and will sometimes even be the loving father that I know he can be. Most of the time though, he is harsh and demanding and expects nothing but the best from me and Jonathan. He trains us relentlessly and doesn't accept anything but the best from us. Even though I hated it growing up, Jonathan and I are surely the best shadowhunters of our generation. The whippings he would give me when I would do wrong or make a mistake would make me so mad and Jonathan even madder. Both of us have developed a healthy fear of him since childhood because of this. This one time, he got out a whip and begin to bring it down onto my back and Jonathan ran and placed himself in between me and the whip. It slashed him across the face and the look Father gave him would make a grown man cower.

Jonathan just straightened out his back and stood up tall to our father with a defiant look on his face. Father grabbed him by the arm without saying a word and started to drag him away. I jumped up and started to scream and chase after them knowing what he was going to do to my brother. I can still hear the tortured screams coming from the cellar from when Father would whip Jonathan with the demon metal. I spent four days with Jonathan in his room after that tending to his lash marks. He would pull me into him at night and we would cuddle in sleep. I would have healed him with one of my special runes, but Father made sure that all of the steles had been taken away from us. Not that an iratze would have done much good though. That is when the first seed of hatred for him was planted in my heart. It has grown steadily since then as the Father that I love slowly slips away. It's like the older he gets, the further away he gets from the father he used to be. He still occasionally shows me that fatherly love and affection and will, like I said, sometimes spoil me with things but he is more closed off and more secretive than ever before. I feel like he is slowly shutting me out for some reason.

Maybe it's because he is almost ready to move ahead with his plans for..."Clarissa!" dad shouts up the stairs to me. Crap. I have been day dreaming again. "Coming Father!" I yell down the stairs as I stick my head out of my room. I run back over to my full length mirror as I check myself one more time. I am wearing the green cocktail dress dad told me to put on and my hair is in soft waves and swept to one side. He wants me to make a good impression on Blackwell's son who he clearly wants me to marry. He is treating me like a possession to be given away like a trophy to the one he deems worthy. Too bad I have absolutely have no intention of being with his son in any capacity. If he is anything like his father, then I will find him repulsive just like I do Blackwell with him and his wondering eyes. I swear, every time that Father turns around, Blackwell stares at my chest or ass. I am pretty sure that is why Jonathan wants to kill him every time he sees him. I turn around and grab my lip gloss off of my large four post bed and slide it over my lips one more time. I rub my lips together and smooth down my hair with my fingers and then dart over to the door and slip through it.

My bedroom is at the end of the second story hallway and I make the short ten foot distance to the stairwell, glancing at Jonathan's room straight ahead, before turning right and gliding down the stairs quickly, yet gracefully. Father didn't spend all of that money on etiquette classes for me to run into the library like an animal. I reach the bottom of the stairs that empty into the grand foyer and turn right into the receiving room and navigate around the couches and over to the library doors. I reach the doors and take a deep breath to collect myself before reaching for the handle.

I push open one of the large mahogany doors and step into the room with a polite smile on my face. There is a fire roaring in the large fireplace on the left side of the room and I see father standing in front of it with a glass of scotch in one of his hands while the other is tucked into the front pocket of his sleek suit. He turns to face me then and his eyes light up for a fraction of a second before he clamps down on that emotion and pulls his walls back down. "You look lovely tonight, Clarissa. I am glad that you decided to wear the dress I bought you last week." he says to me in a cool tone.

"Thank you, Father." I say back to him with a smile. Like I really had a choice as to what to wear. He came in my room last week with our 'nanny/maid' with her carrying an armful of bags from fancy designer stores and dumped them onto my bed. He reached out and grabbed the bag that this dress was in and handed it to me as I sat in my plush drawing chair and practically told me to wear it for my first meeting with Curtis Blackwell. I know he wants me to 'make a good match' with him but I could care less. He has controlled every aspect of my life since he took me when I was five but he will never control my love life. He never has and never will. Not that I have had much of a love life. The farthest I have ever gone with a boy was a hot make out session when I snuck out one night by portal. We groped each other and he almost made my toes curl with my first climax but his brother interrupted us by barging into the guy's room. I buttoned up my pants and made my escape then. I was so lucky that neither Father or Jonathan caught me that night.

"Where is your brother?" Father says and it snaps me out of my own head.

"I am not sure." I say in reply. "I thought he would have already been down here with you." As if on cue, Jonathan opens the door that I just came through and shuts it behind him without looking up. When he does, his eyes land on me and widen slightly. They then drag slowly up and down my body as I see his mouth part slightly. "Jonathan." Father says grabbing his attention. He smooths out his face as he looks up to our father. "It is nice you finally decided to join us." he says in a monotone voice, expressing his displeasure at Jonathan's tardiness.

"I got caught up at the business meeting you sent me to this evening." Jonathan says coolly to him. I can tell by the expression on his face that there was definitely more to the story than him just going to a business meeting. Father probably sent Jonathan to either beat someone up or kill them. Usually no one sees Jonathan and walks away alive because he and I are Valentine Morgenstern's biggest secret. Hell, I have only ever seen a handful of other people on a regular basis my entire life. He only lets his most 'trusted' circle members know about us and even then, they are directed to never talk of us to anyone. I am sure that each one of them thinks that they are the only ones to know about us. Only Pangborn and Blackwell and about four others have seen us all together with one another. Still, I am sure they are too afraid of Jonathan or my father to ever utter our names without being in our presence and directly talking to one of us.

"Will Elizabeth be joining us?" I ask father. Elizabeth Greenbow is dad's longtime girlfriend who has been trying to get him to commit for the past five years. The stupid woman has been trying to play mother to Jonathan and I for years. Too bad for her father is still in love with our mother and will never commit to her. She is either stupid or blind for not seeing that after all this time.

Father looks over to me then and shakes his head. "She will not. I have broken things off with her since we are almost ready to move forward with the takeover. I don't need any unnecessary distractions in the coming months."

I nod my head and then look to Jonathan next to me to see he is wearing the same face of 'yeah, right' that I am. We have both seen the space in his closet full of clothes for our mother that he has slowly been collecting over the past few months. We also both know that he fully intends on her coming back to him and joining our so called family. I honestly have no idea what she will do. I haven't seen her for thirteen years and the mother I remember is just fleeting memories from a child's perspective. Not much to go on and be a good judge of her personality and predict what she will do.

I look back to father who has returned to his previous position of staring into the flames when I feel Jonathan's hand touch the bare skin of my exposed back. The dress I am wearing is a high necked backless cocktail dress that comes to my knees. It is just the right amount of classy and sexy that I would expect from my father trying to pair me off with his cronies' kids. Jonathan leans down as his hand slides lower on my back and sends chills through my body and whispers in my ear, "You look stunning tonight. You know how I love your hair swept to one side." His breath on my neck is hot and it tickles me while simultaneously sending electrical impulses across my skin. His touch and presence didn't used to have this kind of effect on me. This happens to be a more recent development that has me so confused and keeps me up pacing my room at night.

"Thank you, Jonathan." I say to him as I turn my face up to him. He gives me his sexy crooked smile and I can't help but wonder why he is using the smile that he picks up women with on me. A voice in the back of my head tells me that I _do_ know why but I tell that voice to shut up and it does.

Just then, I hear the bell on the front door chime and father looks up and over to us. Jonathan pulls his hand back from my skin at a normal speed and then turns to grab the door knob. He pushes the door open for me and allows me to walk through and I hear father set down his glass on the table and then he is behind me as Jonathan closes the door. I allow Father to pass and let him take the lead to the door. Jonathan and I position ourselves a good five or six feet behind him to allow him room to greet and welcome his guests. Just as Father reaches the door and extends his hand to grasp the door knob, Jonathan bends down once again and whispers in my ear again, except this time, his voice is low and holds a dangerous promise. "Just remember, Clary, that no matter what is said tonight, know that you are mine and no one else's."

I turn my head to face him instantly and find that his face is still right beside my head. His nose is brushing mine and his lips are just centimeters from mine. My breath catches as I realize his proximity to me and the atmosphere of the air that is between us. If I didn't know any better, I would say that it was filled with sexual tension but he is my brother and I know it must be something else. His eyes are boring into mine and my lips part slightly as I suck in a ragged breath. I see his lips part from my peripheral vision and I look down at his lips as I bite my bottom lip nervously.

For some insane reason, I feel myself leaning forward slightly to him and he jerks himself back up to face the door just as Father swings it open. I mentally curse myself for my stupidity. He probably would be horrified with the sick and twisted thoughts that were running through my mind just now. That is probably why he pulled away so quickly.

I snap my head back to in front of me and put on the best impression of a smile that I can as the opening door reveals Blackwell and his wife, Amanda. I can only see them as they smile and greet father and step into the foyer. Then I see who I am assuming is Curtis Blackwell step forward and groan internally at who father is trying to pawn me off on. Father kept telling me all week how he was such a promising young shadowhunter who had a lot of potential. In other words, this is who I have chosen for you, Clarissa, and there will be no arguing.

Curtis steps in the door and the first thing I notice is his light brown hair and his nondescript brown eyes as they land on Father and he shakes his hand. He smiles brightly at him and I see that he is rather plain looking. Not handsome but not ugly either. Just a guy you would pass walking down the street and take no notice of.

"It's so good to see you again, Curtis." My father says with fervor. I groan internally at the look of awe on Curtis' face as my father tells him that. That is when Curtis looks over to me and his smile widens. His eyes slide down and then back up my body appreciatively and come to rest on my face with a very approving look in his eyes. Apparently, he likes what he sees. Curtis steps forward and extends his hand to me and I smile politely and hold my hand out to shake his. Instead, he grabs my hand gently and turns it over and places a kiss on the back of my knuckles while making eye contact with me. I smile awkwardly at him as he does this when I really just want to roll my eyes, and I can hear Jonathan let out of huff of air. His attempt to be charming is pathetic.

I glance up at Jonathan standing next to me and I can see that he knows that Curtis doesn't impress me as I don't even begin to blush at his gesture. I quickly look back to Curtis and elbow Jonathan in the side for him to behave because I don't want him to get in trouble with father. "It is so nice to finally meet you, Clarissa." Curtis says as he straightens back up while still holding my hand.

I smile politely at him (I feel like I will be doing a lot of polite smiling tonight) and pull my hand back to myself with a little effort because he was holding onto it a little too long and too tightly. "Please, call me Clary." I say to him and he smiles even wider at me.

Jonathan steps forward then and extends his hand to Curtis and says, "I don't believe we have met." Curtis reaches out and takes Jonathan's hand as he says "Jonathan Morgenstern." As soon as their hands come in contact and grasp one another, I see the muscles in Jonathan's hand flex and watch as Curtis' eyes widen fractionally as my brother squeezes his hand with what I am sure is blinding strength. He tries to pull his hand back but Jonathan doesn't let go. "I have been looking forward to meeting you, Curtis." he says with too much eagerness for Jonathan to ever contain.

Curtis swallows visibly as he croaks out, "Likewise." and Jonathan finally lets go of his hand. I watch in amusement as Curtis pulls his hand away with a release of relieved breath and he flexes his hand slowly.

"Shall we move into the dining room for dinner?" Father says with perfect civility and etiquette. Blackwell and his wife smile warmly at him as she says, "That sounds wonderful."

Curtis smiles back at me and offers his arm for me to hold onto and I give him a small smile as I take his arm. He escorts me into the dinning room as Jonathan comes up on the other side of me and I can feel his eyes boring into Curtis with pure hatred. Jonathan has always been protective of me but I have never seen him act like this right off of the bat with someone. I can feel the waves of fury rolling off of him. A part of me hates it and a part of me likes it when he gets like this. This will hopefully be an interesting evening with how Jonathan is acting I think to myself as Curtis leads me to the left of my father who sits at the head of the table.

Jonathan moves to sit next to me but our father cuts in. "Jonathan. Why don't you sit next to Amanda over here?" He gestures to the opposite side of the table and Jonathan smiles tightly and nods. Blackwell sits to the left of my father and then me and then Curtis. Amanda sits on the other side of Father and Jonathan sits directly across from me.

Man, I hate this. I really don't want to be sandwiched in between the two men but here I am, sandwiched between them. Curtis turns to face me as I place my napkin in my lap while the servants bring in the first course of salad. "Your father has told me that you like to draw." He says with a smirk on his face.

"I do." I say as my salad is set in front of me. "Although I don't feel I am very good at it."

"You are an amazing artist." Jonathan cuts in and says with fervor. I blush a little at the intensity of his words and dip my head to the table where I reach to pick up my fork.

"When could I get to see some of your doodles?" Curtis asks to try and regain my attention and I just want to smack him. He actually said 'doodles' and not art and not drawings.

I look up to him with a tight and annoyed smile. "Well I don't like to show my _doodles_ to people." I say doodles with annoyance. "There are some sketchbooks that I might could show you at some point but most are like a diary to me that no one sees."

He smirks at me and leans closer to my ear and says, "In that case, I am sure they will soon be filled with pictures of me." and then he actually winks at me. No, seriously. He winks at me like some dirty old man would that follows you around in the grocery store. Nothing about it was sexy or flirtatious in a good way like how Jonathan does it.

I don't really know how to respond without coming off like a bitch so I just smile and resign myself to just get through this one dinner without pissing Father off. I don't think he would like it if I punched Curtis in the face. I look up to Jonathan then I can see him glaring daggers at Curtis as Father and Blackwell and Amanda converse among themselves. I quickly think to myself that I probably won't have to punch him with the way my brother is glaring at him. He will probably do it for me. In fact, Jonathan has killed people just because they looked at him the wrong way. It's not his fault. It's his demon blood that sometimes takes over. He just can't help himself. Just like he can't help but look like he is going to kill Curtis right now. Maybe this dinner won't be so horrible after all if I get to see him punch Blackwell's son.

I extend my foot out to touch Jonathan's leg under the table to regain his attention. He looks back over to me and I smile at him and this seems to relax him. His tense shoulders soften and he sits forward and starts to eat his salad. After a few bites of my food, Curtis leans into me again as our parents talk and says lowly, "I am so glad that you are not an ugly toad." I furrow my brows and turn to face him in shock. I can't believe he said that to me. "Um, thanks, I guess." I say sourly to him.

"No, really." Curtis says as he leans even closer to me. "You are unbelievably hot." and then I feel his hand start to slide on top of my left leg. My mouth falls open in surprise at his boldness and I reach my hand down and grab his hand on my leg and throw it back at him. "Don't touch me like that." I say quietly to him through gritted teeth.

He just smirks at me as he sits back up straight in his chair. "Why not? My father has already told me that we are to be married so don't play coy with me."

I narrow my eyes at him. "If you think I am going to marry you just because my father and yours said so, then you are sadly mistaken." I say to him with venom. Who the hell does he think he is thinking he can touch me like that?

He lets out an amused laugh at this and says, "Your father told me you were a spitfire and that I would have to tame you. But that's okay." He turns and faces me again as he leans in close to me. "That just means you will be a wild one in the sack."

My mouth falls open in shock at his words and I reach down to pull my napkin from my lap so I can storm off as I hear a chair scrape harshly against the marble floor. I look up to see Jonathan coming across the top of the table with pure rage in his eyes and I start to smile.

* * *

 **How perfect was that song for Jonathan? Right?**

 **Okay guys. I have a question for you. What is your favorite fan fiction story on this website? I am looking for a good read and I need suggestions as I have read a lot of them.**

 **I also want to ask you to bear with me. This first chapter kind of jumped around but it was necessary to set up the rest of the story.**

 **Also, if you wanted an idea of what Clary's dress looks like, search for All or Nothing Forest Green Backless dress from Lulus. That is what I pictured for it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Curtis turns his head to see my brother coming at him across the table and his eyes widen at the terrifying sight and I am sure two things are running through his head right now. Number one being that the look on Jonathan's face is the stuff of his nightmares and number two being that he is probably going to die.

Jonathan's foot connects with Curtis' face and he goes flying backwards in the chair. Jonathan hops down off of the table before Curtis can even sit up. He reaches down as our father and Amanda Blackwell start to scream at him and he picks up Curtis by his neck. His large muscular hands clamp down around his throat causing him to make a funny choking sound. Curtis starts to reach down to where I am sure he has a weapon but Jonathan produces his steak knife from the table and stabs his right hand into the wall he has backed him up to in the dining room. He lets out a pain filled yell as Blackwell pulls out a dagger and starts to charge over to Jonathan.

I step in his path and put my steak knife to his throat and he stops his advance. Behind me, I can hear Jonathan spitting out words through his gritted teeth. "If you ever speak to my sister like that or touch her again, I will cut both of your hands off and then shove them down your throat." His voice is low and very threatening and I am sure it sends fear racing through the veins of it recipient.

My father strides over then and places his hand on Blackwell's shoulder. He turns and looks at Valentine and they seem to have some silent communication. Blackwell relaxes his tense stance and then backs away from the knife I am holding to his throat. I lower my arm quickly and turn my body to where I am standing beside Jonathan with my back to the wall. He still has Curtis held by the throat against the wall and from my peripheral vision, I can see blood running down the wall from his hand. If father wasn't here, I am sure that Jonathan would have wasted no time in killing him.

"What is going on here?" Father asks me sternly as he comes to stand in front of me. He is the picture of authority and seems oddly at ease.

I look to Jonathan who is still seething with rage and come to the conclusion that he will not be able to talk and explain himself to our father. "Curtis here said some incredibly inappropriate things to me and then tried to grope me under the table. Jonathan saw and heard it and well..." I gesture to him next to me, "he didn't like that."

Father narrows his eyes at Curtis and looks him in the eyes. I turn my head to see Curtis looking slightly panicked and looking to my father for help hoping that he will tell Jonathan to release him. "Is that true, Curtis?" he asks him sternly.

"Of course not, sir." he chokes out in a rush. I roll my eyes and look back to father. He nods his head to me and I reach under the hem of my dress and pull out my stele. I turn to Curtis' impaled hand and draw one of my own runes on his arm that is pinned to the wall. It is a truth rune that I made when I was twelve that is one of father's favorites. The rune sinks in to his skin as Curtis looks at it completely confused. He clearly has never seen it before. Jonathan begins to smirk evilly at him and I smile at his expression.

"Let me ask you again, Curtis." Father says slightly annoyed. "Is what my daughter said true?"

Curtis opens his mouth to lie again and eyes widen in surprise when the truth spills out. "Yes. I did try to grab her under the table." I can hear Blackwell's exhale of breath to my side and I relish in the fact that his son has just made a fool of himself and dishonored his family name with his actions. He knows that my father will never forgive him for his son's blatant disrespect towards me and him lying to Father. I am suddenly loving this dinner.

Valentine looks over to Blackwell with obvious disappointment and Blackwell dips his head ever so slightly in submission as Curtis tries to salvage himself by trying to lie some more. What happens instead, is absolutely hilarious because he doesn't know that he has a truth rune on his arm. "I just saw how sexy she was and I couldn't keep my hands to myself!" he shouts out. The look of utter shock on his face is almost too much for me and I almost begin to laugh. "I mean..." he continues, "I just kept thinking about all of the dirty things I want to do to her in bed."

Jonathan growls at him and bares his teeth at him as he tightens his grip on his neck. To Curtis' advantage, his speech becomes choked off and his face begins to turn red. I can hear Amanda somewhere else in the room say, "Samuel!" in a hushed yet worried tone. She is obviously worried about her son's safety. "Shut up, Amanda." he snaps back at her and I smile a little at the exchange. I am enjoying watching Blackwell's status with my father fall dramatically.

Father turns his head back to Curtis and he looks completely disappointed and slightly angry at him. "I see that my judgement about you was wrong." he says solemnly to him. "Let him go, Jonathan."

Jonathan grimaces and then looks to me. I place my hand on his shoulder and give him a soft nod and he grunts before pushing off of him. Curtis sucks in a deep breath of air as Jonathan steps back and slides over to me. He brings his hand up to my face and looks into my eyes as he asks, "Are you okay?"

I smile softly at him and nod my head. "I am perfectly fine." I say to him. He drops his hand and then pulls me away from the wall. Jonathan turns me and pulls my back flush to his front and brings his hands to rest on the tops of my arms and slides them up and down as we watch with amusement as Curtis tries to pull the knife that is impaling his hand out of the wall. Jonathan must have used a lot of force because the knife isn't budging. "For heaven's sake." Blackwell says and he steps forward, clearly annoyed with his son, and jerks the knife out of the wall and his son's hand. He lets out a quick scream of pain and I feel Jonathan's chest bounce up and down in silent laughter.

Father then comes and stands beside Jonathan and I and the Blackwells turn to face us as Curtis holds his injured hand. "I think that this dinner is over." Father says and gestures for them to leave. Blackwell pushes his lips into a hard line and then drops his head and nods. He then shoves his son forward and he stumbles a bit as Amanda grabs her clutch off of the table and follows quickly behind her husband. I can tell she wants to apologize but the look on my father's face stops her before she utters a word.

The moment the doors to the dinning room shut behind them, Jonathan bends down and places a kiss on the top of my head and then releases me. He steps away and sits down in the chair next to mine and begins to eat the tomatoes out of my salad. He knows I hate tomatoes and I smile at the gesture. I move to my seat and sit next to him and start to eat my now tomato free salad.

Father walks over to his seat at the head of the table and takes his seat. He looks up to me and I feel his eyes on me so I look over to meet his gaze. "I am sorry about that, Clarissa. I will take more care to find someone worthy of you." That was almost a very sweet thing that he said to me. He had to go and screw it up with him saying that he still planned on picking my spouse.

"Why can't I just find someone myself?" I ask father.

He lets out a long breath before he answers. "You, Clarissa, are someone who people will want to take advantage of because not only are you my daughter, you have a great power." He leans forward and looks further into my eyes. "I don't want you to be blinded by good looks and how smooth a boy can be. Most will try and use you to get to me and to control you and will do anything necessary to do that. I only want what is best for you and the future of the Clave. I will be the ruler of it soon enough and once I am gone, you and your brother will rule. I cannot take the chance of you marrying someone who does not see perfectly eye to eye with our beliefs."

"But father, I don't want to marry someone I don't love." I say to him. I wish he could see if from my perspective. "I am not something you can just give away to whoever you deem worthy of me. He could turn out to be a total sleeze like Blackwell's son!"

He seems to think about this for a second and then leans back in his chair. "Alright, Clarissa." he says with a compromising tone. I almost let my hope build up but I know my father too well for that. There is always a catch. "I will choose two suitors for you and then you will be able to pick who you want to marry."

"But father..." is all I manage to get out before he interrupts me. "Clarissa. That is the best scenario I can offer you. There will be no more discussion on the matter." His tone is firm and unwavering and I end up nodding my head in agreement. He picks up his fork and begins to eat his salad and I turn back to mine.

That is when I feel Jonathan grab my hand under the table and I turn to look at him. His face is determined looking and he leans close to me as he intertwines our fingers. "You are mine." he whispers in my ear and then leans back to his upright position. He looks back to his salad but doesn't let go of my hand under the table. I am looking at him completely dumbfounded trying to figure out what he meant by that. That is the second time that he has said that to me tonight.

His thumb then begins to move in circles on the back of my hand that he is holding and I suddenly realize that that is not exactly the most brotherly thing to do. I quickly think about pulling my hand from his but don't. I actually like that he is holding my hand. It is comforting and warm and I like the contact with his skin. We have always been close since we were kids, but this feels somewhat different.

I used to climb into his bed at night when I first got here because I missed my mom. At first he was annoyed with me and would kick me out of his room. That is until the night that I told him that I needed him to hug me. His eyes widened in surprise and then he threw his covers back on his bed and I climbed in. I scooted close to his back and threw my arm around him and snuggled to his back and fell asleep comfortably there. When I woke up, Jonathan's face was just a few inches from mine and he looked like he was really deep in thought. His brows were furrowed tightly together so I reached up and touched his face. I smoothed out the lines on his face caused by his expression and he seemed to relax a little at that. When I was done with that, I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. His expression was one of such pure shock that I began to giggle wildly. He saw this and then he smiled so big that I thought his eyes would crinkle shut. Father walked in the room then because he heard my loud giggling and when he looked at both of us smiling and laughing, his smile was so big that his eyes did crinkle shut.

That is one of my most fond memories. That was the first time that I actually felt like we were a family.

I look over to Jonathan again and he is acting completely normal despite the way he is intimately holding my hand. I look back to my food and continue to eat the salad, weirdly enjoying having my hand in his and eat in silence.

Throughout the dinner, Jonathan continues to hold my hand, only letting go when necessary and then quickly returning to hold my hand. The whole time, my mind is racing. Should I pull my hand away? I don't want to but I should. I never do though. Father is too caught up on reading letters from his circle members to notice us during dinner. Something I am sure he was planning to do after dinner but plans changed.

When it gets closer to dessert, father stands up and leaves the table muttering something about finding a replacement for Blackwell during his next 'mission' and leaves the two of us alone. When he leaves the room, Jonathan looks over to me and smiles his sexy smile and then thanks the servants when they set down his dessert in front of him. The servant, whose name is Joel, looks completely surprised at him saying 'thank you' because he has never said it before. Jonathan must be in an uncharacteristically good mood tonight for him to say that.

As I start to eat the blueberry cake, I can feel the atmoshere in between us begin to change. Jonathan's hand that is holding mine slides up my lap and comes to rest right next to the apex of my legs. His hand then slowly starts to slide to the inside of my thigh and my heart begins to beat harder. I know that Jonathan can hear this because his senses are extremely heightened due to his blood and I see him smirk a little.

Our hands come to rest there and I begin to have the most conflicted internal dialogue of my life! I keep telling myself that he is my brother and that this is wrong. Angel knows that Father made us read the bible enough times growing up that I know that incestuous relationships are frowned upon. But does that really count towards Jonathan and myself? Father tampered with our blood so much that I am sure that our DNA is wildly different from one another. Lilith's blood practically cancelled out our mother's blood and my angel blood altered my being to allow me to create runes from heaven which only angels are supposed to be able to do. But at the same time, he is my brother. He has our mother's hands for goodness sake. We were raised together to have a sibling bond. If that is true, then why am I allowing him to have his hand so near my most intimate part? I ask myself this over and over but I already know the answer. I am allowing him to have it there because I like it. I like the way his skin gives off waves of heat that soak through my dress and warms my inner thigh. I feel giddy like a girl who has a crush and that crush is holding her hand.

The air between us starts to feel like a mud bog that I am trying to pull out of with no success. Like I stepped into it and now I am stuck. I try to push away the atmosphere, which can only be described as sexual tension, and I end up even deeper in it. At this point, my breathing has become embarrassingly loud and I can feel the heat on my face from my blushing and he still looks as cool as a cucumber. I should really get a grip on myself. I am probably freaking out over nothing. He is surely not thinking the same things that I am. How could he? He has his girlfriend, Chloe, to screw. Jonathan never calls her his girlfriend but she does. I think he is just with her for the sex but she obviously wants more with the way she looks at him.

"Is Chloe coming over tonight?" I say before I can stop myself. Even though when I speak, my voice is soft, it sounds like a canon shot in the quietness of the room.

Jonathan turns his head to me in surprise and swallows his bite of cake. "No. I grew tired of her a few days ago. I only kept her around for practice anyway."

I furrow my brows in confusion and say, "Practice? What do you mean?"

Half of his mouth turns up in a knowing smirk before he looks back to the table and grabs his drink and takes a sip before setting it down and looking back to me. "You will see soon enough." he says with that half smirk on his face.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I say back to him as I begin to become annoyed at his cryptic words.

His face loses some of it's smirk when he hears my tone and he runs his other hand through his hair. "Clary." he says as he looks into my eyes. I can see that he wants to say something to me but he is hesitant to say it. "I don't think the time is right at this moment to tell you."

"Tell me what?" I say loudly to him. "What do your sex-capades with Chloe have anything to do with what you will show me 'soon enough'?" My voice drops low when I say 'soon enough' to mimic his tone and he furrows his brows at me. I look to him waiting for him to explain and he just sits there looking like he is deep in thought. I get tired of waiting after about thirty seconds and then yank my hand from his. I push away from the table to his surprise and storm off.

He doesn't follow me and I make it to my room before my frustration gets the better of me. I pick up a tiny intricately carved wooden music box that Jonathan gave me for my eighth birthday and throw it across the room. He remembered me pointing it out on one of the rare occasions that Father took us out with him and he practically begged father to take him back and let him get it for me. It is one of my most prized possessions. The moment it breaks apart into three pieces when it hits the wall across the room, I instantly regret throwing it. I walk over to the pieces and pick them up. It doesn't look too badly broken and I can probably fix it with a screwdriver and some wood glue.

I gather it up in my arms and move to set it back on top of my dresser where it was and touch the little ballerina in the middle of it. I smile at it's red hair that Jonathan colored on her head with a orange permanent marker. It originally had blonde hair but he wanted it to look like me so he made it happen in his own way with a marker.

I know that father says that Jonathan can never love because of his blood, but I see that softer side of him. I see that really, _really_ deep down, he does have the ability to love in his own way. It may not be like the way I or father love, but the feeling is just as real and strong to him as love is to us. I see it when he looks at me and on _incredibly_ rare occasions with father. I know he has a hard time with deciphering emotions and why I sometimes react the way I do but sometimes, it is just too much. Jonathan knows me better than anyone, yet he still has trouble knowing when he is doing something that I don't like. And I don't like when he is cryptic and keeps things from me like he was just doing.

I walk over to my bed on the left wall of my room and fall back onto the top of it. I kick my shoes off and slide the dress off of my shoulders and lift up and slide it down and over my hips and kick it to the floor with a flick of my foot. I am only in a bra cutlet and a thong and I just roll over and grab my covers and pull them over me. I pull the bra off and curl up in my sheets, not bothering to put pajamas on, and close my eyes.

To my utter frustration, when I close my eyes, I see Jonathan. I have seen him shirtless in training so many times that I know every curve of his body. I think about one of the dreams I have been having about him and I sigh as I begin to move my finger down and onto my bundle of nerves under my folds. In my dream, we were swimming in the pool out back and he swam up to me as I was standing on the slope to the deep end of the pool where just my head is sticking out of the water. He swims up to me and reaches around and pulls the tie on my bathing suit and it comes lose and he pulls it away. He brings his hands slowly up my body and they find purchase on my breasts.

My fingers pick up their pace as I feel myself beginning to build towards the peak and I think about how Jonathan cupped them perfectly in his hands and teased my nipples in my dream. He then slides one hand down my abdomen and into my bathing suit bottoms and starts to touch me there as his mouth begins to leave kisses along my neck. My breathing becomes ragged as I move my fingers like he did in my dream and I picture him looking lustfully into my eyes the way I saw him look at Chloe one time when I caught them having sex in the training room. "Jonathan." I say quietly as I come undone by my own hand while in my mind, it was Jonathan's doing. After a long time, I finally start to come down from my high and take some deep breaths to try and regain my composure.

And that is when it hits me. I just masturbated to the thought of my brother. I am a disgusting human being and I should be ashamed of myself. I roll over and press my face into my bed and let out a muffled scream of confusion and frustration. I have no idea when I became attracted to Jonathan but it is really messing with my mind.

* * *

 **-Jonathan**

I want to tell her so bad that I have just been honing my skills with Chloe so that I can make her body sing to me when we are finally together. I have never been so sure that it will happen than I have been after her letting me hold her hand all throughout dinner. She is staring at me waiting for me to say something to her but I know that it is too soon to tell her that I want her. I have to take things slow with her and let her realize what I have known for years. That we were meant to be together. That she belongs to me and I belong to her. That her body was designed perfectly for me. Everything about her is attractive to me. Her body calls to mine like mine calls to her but I can't tell her any of these things. Not yet.

I see her face scrunch up into an angry glare as she yanks her hand out of mine and storms off. I think about following her but I know that it would just make her angrier if I followed her an didn't tell her what I meant by what I said. I curse at myself for being so stupid for saying that I was just 'practicing' with Chloe. Of course she would want to know what I meant by that. She hates not being told things and she especially hates being lied to.

I push away from the table and stand up and walk over to the doors. I push through them and make my way up the stairs and to my room. When I get to the top of the stairs, my sensitive hearing picks up light panting coming from Clary's room. I turn left and tip toe over to her door. 'Please, let her be doing what I think she is doing' I say to myself.

I press my ear to the door and hear her ragged breathing and slight whimpers and I instantly become hard. Only Clary can do that to me. One moment there will be nothing and the next, the Washington monument is in my pants. I make the split second decision to crack her door open to peek at her. I turn the doorknob slowly and the light from her room slips through the tiny crack and hits my face. I press my eye up to the door and see that she is wrapped up in her covers on top of her bed. I can see her eyes are closed and her face and it is scrunched up in concentration and pleasure as I see the covers moving up and down where the apex of her legs are.

Holy shit, she is doing what I thought she was doing. She is pleasuring herself.

My dick begins to press uncomfortably against my pants and I reach down and unzip them to set it free. I know that father is downstairs in his study fumbling through paper work because I can hear it. I take myself into my hand and begin to slide it up and down as I watch her. I have imagined her face when she orgasms a million times, so being able to see it now is like the best present I could ever get. I can't wait to see it.

I can tell she is close by the sounds she is making and by the way her breath is catching in unexpected places. That thought nearly sends me over the edge and I have never been so turned on in my life. I pump faster and harder, making sure that I stay completely silent. I don't want her to catch me and I miss out on her 'O' face. Her mouth pops open and then she says "Jonathan" in pleasure and my eyes fly open in surprise. She is actually thinking about me while she masturbates! And that is all it takes. She orgasms shortly after she says my name and I come right along with her as I watch her face pull together in pleasure.

I can't believe she was thinking about me! She was imagining _me_ while she pleasured herself. I am sure that my smile is as Clary would say, 'radiant' right now as I watch her pant from the exertion of her orgasm. I quickly shut the door quietly so she doesn't catch me. I have to go clean myself up anyway. This is such amazing news! I thought it would take me a long time to convince her of 'us'. Now that I know that she finds me attractive and thinks of me 'that way', enough to pleasure herself to, I won't have to wait so long to have her. Not to mention I now know what face she makes when she comes. That was, hands down, the best sight I have ever seen. If only her covers had slid down to expose her chest to me. I dream about the day that I get to grasp her perfectly sized breasts in my hands...and now I am hard again.

* * *

 **-Clary**

I wake up to my alarm blaring and reach out to my right to hit the snooze button. Me and my snooze button are best friends. We high five each other at least four times every morning while I sadly try to get more sleep.

Instead of hitting the hard wood of my night stand, my hand hits more of my bed. I force my eyes open and see that I am laying sideways on my bed. I sit up and crawl over to my night stand and turn my alarm off. I briefly wonder how I ended up laying sideways and then I remember. I fell asleep after that epic orgasm I had while thinking about Jonathan. "Fuck." I mumble to myself. I am one seriously messed up person. On the other hand, I feel completely refreshed and not tired like I usually do when I wake up. It was probably because my body needed to rest after I...quit thinking about it, Clary!

I look down at myself and see that I am still topless and wearing only my underwear and climb out of bed. I schlep over to my attached bathroom and turn on the water. After I am done taking my shower, I quickly dry my hair and put on my training clothes. Today is Wednesday and Father likes for Jonathan and I to train most of the day on Wednesdays. When we were younger, he would call them 'Warrior Wednesdays' and say that demons would come at us relentlessly and that we had to have the stamina to keep fighting even when we felt like we would die of exhaustion.

I make it into the kitchen just as Father does and I tell him good morning and kiss him on the cheek like I have been doing since I was 5. I stopped doing it for a while when I turned 13 but he seems to be nicer and less hostile towards me when I kiss him in the morning. I think it has to do with keeping his ego inflated and maybe also a little bit of revenge to my mother. Knowing that I love him and give him kisses is like the ultimate vindication for him to have on mom. Too bad for him that most days for the past few years, I actually want to punch him instead. I love my father but he has changed, and it isn't for the better.

"Good morning!" Jonathan says uncharacteristically bright and loud for him and Father and I both turn and look at him in surprise. He is smiling widely as he comes over and places a kiss on the top of my head and gives father a manly clap on his back the way guys show affection for one another. When Jonathan's back is turned to us and he is getting his breakfast from the stove, Father and I look at each other with the same dumbfounded expression on our faces. "You seem to be in a good mood this morning." I say skeptically to him as father and I take our seats at the table.

He turns his head and looks at me and smiles. "I am, little sister. The best mood I have been in in years." Hell, even his tone of voice is chipper.

"Can I ask why?" I ask with a lilt to my voice.

His smile impossibly gets even wider at my question and Father turns to look at me with a slightly worried expression on his face. "I figured out something last night and whenever I think about it, it will have me in a good mood for the rest of my life."

Father sets down the paper he was reading and completely turns to face him. "And what exactly did you figure out?" he asks him.

Jonathan smiles wickedly at him and then his eyes dart to me for a second and then he turns back around to finish fixing his plate. "I figured out that I really can have everything I ever wanted. I just have to be patient."

Father narrows his eyes at him like he is trying to find the hidden meaning behind his words as he watches him. Hell, even I am looking at him and trying to figure out what is going on with him. Neither one of us have ever seen him in this good of a mood. It is almost disturbing because of his usual demeanor.

When he finishes piling his plate with food, he walks over to the table with a beautiful genuine smile on his face and I can't help but smile back. He looks so light when he smiles like that. Like he has just had the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders. He looks up to me, probably feeling my gaze, and notices my smile and he smiles even wider. "What has gotten into you?" I whisper mostly to myself in disbelief. He suddenly finds something about what I said so funny that he bursts out laughing which is also something that is really rare for him.

I look back to Father, who now looks deeply concerned, and I turn my face back to Jonathan and let out a few little chuckles of my own at his jovial attitude. He slows his laughing and then looks over to me. He reaches across the table and tucks some of my hair behind my ear and says, "Did you know that you are the only person I have never wanted to kill?"

I raise my eyebrows in surprise at this and I can see Father's mouth in my peripheral vision a push into a hard line. Jonathan's confession means that he has wanted to kill him, which I am sure he already knew, but hearing it directly from him must have bothered him to some extent. Him saying that he has never wanted to kill me is actually a very big deal for him. Jonathan I am sure, at some point, wants to kill everyone that even looks at him the wrong way. I have pissed him off so many times over the years that I thought he wanted to kill me more times than I could count. I am absolutely flabbergasted that he never thought about doing it. I was sure he wanted me dead a few times in just the first week I was here.

"Really?" I say to him in surprise. He just nods his head in affirmation and then takes a bite of his pancakes. I look back to Father and I am sure that I look like a deer caught in headlights because I have no idea what to do with a happy Jonathan and from the looks of it, neither does he. That is when I realize that Father will surely observe us today and I suddenly want to kick Jonathan.

Father finally stopped demanding to be there to train us and watch us fight only six months ago. Since then, he would only come to one, maybe two every other week since he was satisfied that we could better each other by fighting one another. Jonathan would stop and give me constructive criticism and would tell me when I would expose a vulnerable part of my body to him. I would help him focus more on trying to get smaller and faster targets while showing him where his weak spots were (when I would find one every once in a blue moon). But after seeing how Jonathan is acting this morning, he will surely want to see what kind of effect him being in a good mood will have on his fighting and sure enough, he calls for his butler. He tells him to cancel all of his plans today saying that he will be observing us training instead.

I look to Jonathan expecting his mood to dull after hearing this news (he hates when Father hovers over him in training), but it doesn't even seem to phase him.

We finish our breakfast and then move to the training room and stretch for thirty minutes. I do yoga to stretch while Jonathan does the traditional kind of stretching. Father just sits in the corner in his chair that Jonathan and I have long called his observation chair and writes furiously in one of his stupid journals. I know that he writes about us, his experiments, in them and how we act and respond to certain things. He sort of fancies himself a scientist of the Nephilim world.

We train for the next three hours with non-stop sparring between me and Jonathan. He is doing exceptionally well today and I am having a hard time getting the upper hand on him. Not to mention, I swear he is looking at me differently from how he did yesterday. He seems to be smirking more at me and there is something behind his eyes that I can't put my finger on. It is driving me crazy because I pride myself on knowing him better than anyone. Most of the time we can have full conversations with just our eyes and I love that. Looking into his eyes now, I have no idea what he is thinking. I have to get him to tell me what is going on. It is going to drive me insane until he tells me. I have to know why he is so happy today.

Father finally yells at us that we can stop for a snack and some water and I am completely covered in sweat as is Jonathan. I turn to look at him as I take a long sip of water and see that he is taking his shirt off. I watch the skin stretch over his washboard abs and I bite the inside of my cheek in desire. What I wouldn't give for him to not be my brother. I would just love to bite those abs of his and lick all the way down to his... Holy shit. What am I thinking?

I quickly turn away from him and squeeze my eyes shut trying to rid myself of my perverted and twisted thoughts about him. All I succeed in doing is plastering his shirtless body on the backs of my eyelids and I end up just walking out of the room saying I need to go to the bathroom.I splash cold water on my face and the coldness of the water refreshes my senses and I think I can see reason again. As I dry my face off, Jonathan's words from breakfast replay in my head. I am the only person he has never wanted to kill. That is almost too big for me to wrap my head around. That means that he 'loves' me and only me. That I am the one thing that he would be bothered by if he lost.

I brace my hands on the sink in the bathroom and lean heavily on it; my shoulders pushed up almost to my ears as I look up and into the mirror. My face is no longer flushed and a have a few hairs sticking out in random places that have escaped my french braid. I don't know what makes me different from everyone else. Why he has wanted to kill everyone else and not the person who clearly bothers him the most? Me.

I am pushy and stubborn and I tend to not think about my actions before I rush into them headlong without a second thought. That has gotten both of us into trouble more times than I care to admit. It almost got both of us killed when we went hunting one night in Berlin. I followed this shax demon into a dark alley where he was clearly setting me up to be ambushed. Jonathan was yelling at me to stop but I didn't listen. Like I said, I am stubborn and I rush into things. The moment I entered the alley, there were about fifteen demons closing in on me while about ten more looked down from above on top of the buildings. Jonathan came to my rescue, but at a cost. A ravenor demon jumped on him from behind while he was fending some of them off of my back and it got a good chunk out of him after it stung him. The rage in his eyes was unreal when that happened. There was never a question in my mind whether he considered killing me right then and there.

But now, he says that he has never thought about killing me. I wouldn't believe him if it weren't for the fact that he has never lied to me to my knowledge. Sure there are things that he omits for me when he tells me things because he knows I don't like hearing about his constant internal war to fight the demon side of himself. He already has a hard enough time fighting those urges without him relieving them by telling me. Father already did that to him for years so he could 'study' him. But when it comes to the important stuff, he has never lied to me. Not once. That is why him saying that he never thought about killing me is such a big deal. That is the ultimate compliment from him. Knowing that even when he was his angriest at me that he never considered killing me tells me everything I need to know about him. It tells me that he loves me. Only me.

I can't help but smile a little at that thought as I open the door and leave the bathroom. I walk the few doors down to the training room and find Jonathan patiently waiting for me, still shirtless, in the middle of the sparring mat. "It's about time." Jonathan says teasingly. "I thought your tiny self fell in the toilet and you got flushed away."

I raise my hand up and flip him off and he smiles wickedly at our own private joke. When I first got here, Jonathan convinced me that he had a twin that got flushed down the toilet because he was smaller than him. He told me that the toilets eat tiny kids in the manor so I went days without using any of the bathrooms in the house. I would sneak outside to do my business. When Father finally caught me peeing outside, I told him what Jonathan had told me about our other brother who got eaten by the toilets. Even after he explained to me that it was just a mean joke, I still had trouble using the toilets for almost a year after that.

I get to the center of the mat and wait for Father's go ahead. I turn my body to the side and brace my feet and ready myself for his attack. I look into his eyes because Father taught us to watch the eyes because our opponents always give away their next movement before they do it. I can see amusement and anticipation in his eyes and then Father says, "Go."

Jonathan instantly lunges for me, catching me off guard because he is usually more calculating with his movements, and I spin to the left in an effort to dodge him. I almost make it but he grabs onto my shirt and pulls me back and throws me onto the ground and pins me. I curse loudly as he smiles down at me. He gets off of me and helps pull me up to my feet. Once I am standing, I reach down to the hem of my shirt and pull it over my head, revealing just my sports bra, and then take off my yoga pants to reveal some skin tight spandex shorts underneath. I won't give him the chance to pull me down by my clothing again.

When I look back up to him, I catch him looking at my chest and then his eyes travel to my stomach and then my legs. Father is to Jonathan's back so he doesn't see the way he is looking at me. Like I am anything _but_ his sister. He really needs to stop that because it is really confusing. He. Is. My. Brother. I chant over and over again in my head as my eyes involuntarily dart down to his pecks. I quickly look away and clear my throat. "I love you too." I say to him catching him completely by surprise.

"What?" he says confused. I roll my eyes and walk closer to him so our father won't hear. "I said I love you too." I say with a smile on my lips. "When you told me that you have never thought about killing me...well, I love you too." I say to him. I know that is what he means when he says that and I just wanted him to know that I knew what he meant.

Realization flits across his face and his mouth begins to turn up into a smile. I step back away from him as our eyes lock together and I see the love he has for me swimming in his dark eyes. I get into my fighting stance and he does the same as we wait for the signal. "Go." Father yells and I charge at him from the start. He easily dodges me but that is what I was expecting him to do. I instantly turn around and place my foot on his calf just under his knee and use it like a step to climb up his body. Next is his hip and then I am literally perched on his shoulders with an imaginary blade pressed to his throat.

Jonathan lets out chuckle of approval as I kick off of him and do a back flip off of his shoulders, landing soundlessly on the floor behind him. He turns around to face me and smiles as he says, "You are the only one who can get the best of me from time to time. Only you are worthy to run the Clave by my side one day."

"Well that is the plan, isn't it?" I say back to him like it is the most obvious statement he could ever make. "Isn't that right, Father?" I say as I turn around to look at him.

"Yes it is Clarissa." he says without much inflection. I mean, would it kill him to say 'good job, Clary' or 'nice move, Jonathan'. Instead, he is just furiously writing in his journal. I purse my lips at him and turn back to Jonathan. He is walking over to me with a blindfold in his hand and I immediately begin to shake my head. "Not today." I say in my most whiny voice. I hate when he makes me train without my sight. I know it has good training purposes, but I still hate it. It teaches you to use your other senses and not be so reliant on you sight.

"Put the blindfold on." I hear Father say from the corner. I glare furiously at Jonathan who just smiles evilly at me. He walks up and ties it to my head and then I hear his soft footsteps backing away. I wipe my mind clear of any distractions and become completely focused on pushing my other senses to their furthest reaching points. I slow down my breathing and listen for the displacement of air that I know accompanies Jonathan's powerful movements. To keep the element of surprise, Father doesn't say 'go' out loud and usually just nods his head for the attacker to begin.

I plant my feet shoulder width apart and bring my hands up, ready to block an attack. Just when I think I hear something come from one direction, I hear an even bigger whoosh of air coming at me from the other side of me and bring my forearm up and block the hit that was aimed for my neck. The moment I block it, I bring my other fist up and step forward to punch Jonathan and he spins away. I don't hear his footfalls but I do feel the mat underneath us being pressed down to my right and I throw my fist out and connect with what I think to be Jonathan's abdomen. When I hear the rush of air come from his lips, I know I am right.

I concentrate my attack there and focus all of my senses on hearing and feeling what his next movements will be. He lands a few punches, but I block more of them than the ones that get through. Just when I think I am about to get the upper hand, I suddenly feel all of my weight being lifted off of my feet and I know that Jonathan is picking me up to body slam me. I smile widely at this because I know what he wants me to do. Last week, he showed me how to turn the tables when being picked up. This is where my small size and swiftness come in handy.

I grab onto one of his arms and apply pressure on a pressure point causing him to bend his arm slightly. That is all I need. I bring my elbow down like lightening on the crease of his arm and his arm bends almost completely causing him to lose the sure grip on me that he has. My hands travel up his arms and then I am climbing him again super fast and wrap my arms around his neck and jerk his weight with all of my might backwards. I swing my legs down and kick both of his knees from behind causing them to buckle. He falls backward, with me on his back, and lands on me while I tighten my grip on his neck. He lets out a chocking sound and taps my arms letting me know he concedes.

I let go and pull the blindfold off and jump up in excitement. "It worked!" I say loudly to Jonathan who is standing up.

"Of course it worked." Jonathan says like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I showed it to you." He smiled at me as I give one little excited jump and then turn to Father who still looks impassive. "Next time," Father starts to say as he stands up, "don't let your excitement distract you."

I furrow my brows in confusion until I feel Jonathan's legs sweep my legs from under me. I fall to the ground and then Jonathan is on top of me, pinning my wrists to the floor on either side of my head. He is smiling wickedly down at me as he lets out a low laugh and I can't help but laugh back. "You got me." I say to him with a smile on my face.

Jonathan leans forward then, pressing his shirtless body on my barely clothed one and puts his mouth by my ear. I am suddenly very aware of every inch of him that is pressed against me. He breath blows on my ear sending goose bumps over my skin. "That is all I have ever wanted." he says in a sexy tone. He raises his face back up to mine and his eyes are on fire with what I think is desire. They are similar to the same eyes I saw him looking at Chloe with when I walked in on them having sex except the way his eyes are smoldering now, are more intense than when he was looking at her.

I hear a door click and turn my head to see that Father has left the room and my heart begins to fly. When I turn my face back to Jonathan's, his nose brushes mine. He looks down at me and I look up at him and the atmosphere suddenly changes. Where the air was filled with playfulness and fighting, it is now turning into something that I have felt very few times in my very secluded life. If I am not mistaken, it is sexual tension like last night.

My breathing picks up and becomes shallower as he hovers over me, looking into my eyes, and I find myself wondering what his lips would feel like against mine. Would they be soft and forgiving or soft yet commanding? Would he bite my bottom lip like I so desperately want to bite his? My eyes break with his and I look down at his mouth. It is opened by just a fraction and twitches slightly like he wants to smile. I lick my lips at the thought of his mouth on mine and then I push him away.

I roll my body so he flips over on his back and then I push myself off of the floor. I have to get out of here before I do something insane and wrong and twisted. I definitely shouldn't be thinking about him that way. "Where are you going?" Jonathan asks from behind me.

"I uh...am going to eat lunch." I tell him quickly. I really just have to get out of here. I push through the training room doors and then run upstairs to my room. I slam my door shut and then begin to steadily pace back and forth. I am so confused and I have no idea what I am going to do. I know what I should do, but that doesn't line up with what I want to do. I honestly don't know which side of me is eventually going to win the battle.

"This has to be just a phase." I tell myself. All siblings go through this at some point. Right? I wouldn't know for sure because Jonathan and I only known one other pair of siblings and they are both girls with serious boy craziness problems. They are the daughters of Malachai Diuedenne who is the Consul of the Clave and one of Father's most trusted circle members. That is why he will sometimes allow us to visit the sisters. Maybe I should go see them. Ask them, non discreetly, if siblings ever feel attracted to one another. The only problem is that Father will never let me go alone. He will insist I bring Jonathan with me. I will have to find some way to ask them without him hearing or disguise it somehow as a hypothetical question.

I reach up and nervously tuck some lose strands of hair behind my ear as I nod my head in agreement with myself. "Yes. That is what I will do." I say talking to myself, sounding like a crazy woman. I will go ask Father right now.


	3. Chapter 3

I make my way downstairs after slipping on a baggy t-shirt. When I get to the bottom, I turn left and walk over to the large oak door of Father's office. I raise my hand up and knock gently on the door and wait for him to answer. After a few seconds, I hear him say, "Come in." and I turn the door knob.

When I step into the room, I can see that he has about two or three of his journals spread across his large mahogany desk and they are opened up to certain pages while he writes in another one. I walk over to in front of his desk and wait for him to acknowledge me. After about a minute of patient waiting, he finally looks up to me as he takes his reading glasses off of his face. "What do you need, Clarissa?"

"I was just wondering if I could go and visit with Victoria and Ellie Dieudonne tomorrow? I haven't been out of the house in over a month and I could use some girl time." I put on my most innocent face and look hopefully at him. He watches me for a moment and I bring my hands up to in front of me and hold them together in a plea and mouth "Please" to him. He takes a deep breath and releases it slowly before he says, "Alright. But you have to take Jonathan with you."

I knew he wouldn't let me go without Jonathan. "Thanks daddy!" I say like an excited five year old. I go around to behind the desk and place a kiss on his cheek and he smiles gently as he looks back up to me when I straighten out. I sure do know how to work my father over.

I hurry out of the room and shut the door behind me and then start back towards the kitchen. I probably should eat while I have the chance. When I enter the kitchen, Jonathan is sitting at the table with his lunch and pats my usual spot next to him at the table. I look over to see that he has made me a sandwich and has made a bowl of fruit for me to eat also. I smile at his surprising actions because he is being so unbelievably thoughtful today. He rarely goes out of his way for anyone. Except for me, that is.

I go and sit in my seat and smile at him. "Thanks Jonathan." I say to him. He shrugs his shoulders and just says, "I was already making one for myself and just thought I would make you one too." His voice is dismissive like he didn't even mean to do it. Like it is no big deal for him to do something thoughtful when it is. He never does anything like that. I look down at my sandwich and see that it is my favorite. Marisol, our cook, makes the best chicken salad and when I see that that is what it is, my smile gets even bigger. "Chicken salad?" I say with excitement.

"I told Marisol to make it for you this morning." Jonathan says simply. Like it is something he does all of the time. It is not in his nature to be thoughtful and caring but here he is, being thoughtful and caring towards me. "Thanks." I say to him. He reaches over and grabs my hand under the table like he did last night at dinner and I intertwine our fingers. He rests his hand on my thigh and scoots his chair just a little bit closer to me so he doesn't have to reach so far and I may or may not have blushed a little.

I don't know if this hand holding thing will be an everyday routine for us or if it is just some after thought of his just so he doesn't feel lonely. He once told me how lonely he feels sometimes. No one else in the world is like him and he finds it hard to relate to everyone else. His whole thought process is different and he struggles with the more sensitive human emotions like selflessness and kindness. This doesn't allow him to make a lot of friends. In reality, I am his only real friend. He has had a few 'friends' before but most of the time they don't understand him and become weary and afraid of his differences from 'normal' people. They slowly distance themselves and eventually fade away. I hate that for him because everyone needs someone else in this world who relates to them and he has no one. Except for me. Growing up with him and spending practically all of our time together has allowed me to understand him in ways that no one else can; except for maybe our father. He has studied him since he was born.

"Oh," I say as I bring myself out of my own head, "I asked Father if I could go to Victoria and Ellie's tomorrow and he said yes. But only if you go with me."

Jonathan takes a sip of his water and then sets it back down before he answers. "Okay. I know you have been dying to get out of the house the past two weeks." I furrow my brows and look at him surprised that he knows that. I haven't said anything about being stir crazy even though that is not the reason I want to visit them. "You tend to draw landscapes and cities when you are feeling cooped up." he says matter of factly. "You have been drawing a lot of those lately."

Jonathan is the only one who gets to see my drawings. A few times a week, we will sit beside each other somewhere in the house (usually one of our bedrooms) and he will read and I will draw. I didn't know he paid that much attention to my drawings. "What time do you want to leave in the morning? I think we should go by portal." I ask him.

"I don't care. Maybe around ten?"

"Ten it is." I say to him and his thumb begins to trail circles on my hand again. I smile at him and he smiles at me and then I turn back to finish my sandwich. We talk and joke with one another for the rest of lunch and speculate whether or not Victoria and her on again and off again boyfriend will be together or not. Her love life is like soap opera where there are huge fights and slaps on faces and cheating scandals every other day. Her boyfriend, Jonathan Cartwright, is apparently a huge bulky guy. I have never met him, of course, but I have seen pictures. He also happens to be a womanizer and frequently cheats on her. I would tell her to forget him on that fact alone if it were not for her also cheating on him on a regular basis. I frankly don't know how she puts up with so much drama.

Jonathan and I make a bet about if they are on again or off again. I say off and he says on. Loser has to call the other one Master for two days.

We finish lunch and put away our plates and start to walk off lunch. We aren't too fond of sparring right after eating so we go out back and wonder around the grounds. As we walk, he tells me about the 'meeting' he had last night that made him late for dinner. He had to kill a guy because he had threatened to expose Father to the Clave. He tells me about how badly he wanted to kill Curtis also and I have to agree with him on that one. The more he talks about it, the tenser he gets. I wouldn't be surprised if he was still thinking about going and killing him right now. His shoulders are stiff and the muscles in his jaw are flexing.

I don't like seeing him so tense so I decide to play his favorite game. I came up with a super powerful glamour rune a few years ago that only I can wear that allows me to be completely invisible to everyone. Even to Nephilim and downworlders. Jonathan absolutely loves when I put this rune on and let him hunt me. He loves the cat and mouse game of it and it satifies the predatory nature in him to be able to hunt and catch.

I hop out in front of him and reach into my bra and pull out my stele that I _always_ have with me and smile mischievously at him. He looks questioningly down at me and I just smirk as I bring the stele to my arm and begin to draw. The moment he sees what I am drawing, he smiles widely at me; but this isn't his usual smile. It is sinister and calculating and would terrify most everyone else who would find them on the receiving end of it. All I see when he smiles like that is how happy he is that he can have a way to satisfy his urges with me in the form of a game.

The second I finish the rune I completely vanish from his sight. I step back as I tuck my stele back in my bra and he swipes his hand at where I was just standing. "Cheater." I say playfully to him. He eyes jerk immediately to where I am now standing and he smiles. "You have to count to ten." He rolls his eyes but starts to count anyway. I run off then and climb a tree about five feet into the forest that surrounds that manor. "Ten!" Jonathan yells loudly and I see him smile wickedly as he turns his nose up and smells the air.

All of his senses are far superior to mine or anyone else's so I know that he is trying to find my scent trail. He probably knows my scent better than his own from us spending so much time together. He spins in a circle and then seems to find the trail I left behind. He charges forward and is at the tree in front of the one I am in and begins to smell again. I smile as I step from one branch to another and into the tree that he is under. I can see him trying to figure out why my scent trail just disappears and I smile widely.

I jump silently down a few branches and wait for him to take a few more steps into the woods. When he does, I jump down out of the tree and let out a little giggle. He turns blindingly fast to where I am and smiles dangerously. I turn and take off with him hot on my trail. He growls as I run with a huge smile on my face and soon I am running back into the house. I fling the door open and Jonathan follows through a few seconds later while I stand in the middle of the living room at the back of the house.

He walks into the room and heads straight in my direction. I can tell he still isn't sure if I am in here by the slightly confused look on his face that I find so adorable. I have to cover my mouth so I don't let my muffled giggle escape my lips. He walks into the middle of the room slowly and I step aside so he can pass and then I am looking at his back. The next thing I know, my eyes are sliding down to his butt and I am staring at it. He has the most perfect butt. It is high and tight and the perfect size. Most men don't have much of a butt and tend to have no definition on the backs of their bodies. But not Jonathan. I wonder if it feels as firm as it looks.

Before I can think to much about what I am doing, I find myself reaching out and then slapping him in the butt. My eyes widen in surprise at my own actions as he spins around with an astonished look on his face. "You smacked my butt!" he says in disbelief and that is when I turn and run. I climb the stairs as I mentally face palm myself for my actions and turn right to go to Jonathan's bedroom instead of left and into mine.

I silently push the door open to his room as I hear him start to climb the stairs and slip into his room and shut the door. I flit over to his unmade bed and slip under the heap of covers at the foot of his bed. Moments later, I hear the door open and shut. "I know you are in here, Claryyyyy." he says drawing out my name. I smile under the covers and hope that the scent of his sheets will mask my scent. "But where exactly could you be?" Jonathan says thoughtfully. I can just see him raising his hand to his face to make a show of thinking even though I am under his covers. I know him too well.

I hear his footsteps as they go around his bed and I think I hear him pull the curtains on his window back to see if I am hiding behind them. I then hear his bathroom door creak as he opens it and cover my mouth so my excited breathing doesn't give me away. I love it when he is so close to catching me. The anticipation is incredible.

His footsteps return to the bedroom and then I feel his bed dip down under his weight as he sits down. I push my lips together so I can stay really quiet as he lets out a dramatic huff of air. "Hmmm. I guess I am wrong." he says to himself even though I know he is really talking to me. I know the jig is up and he knows that I am under his covers at the foot of his bed. I smile and think about trying to make a run for it to his door. Before I have the chance to even make the tiniest movement to run, I feel him land on top of me and I finally let out a round of giggles as his hands find my sides. He tickles me through his sheets as he pins me to the bed and I sadly try to fight him off. I pull the sheets down and off of my face so I can suck in some fresh air as I feel the rune start to fade.

I know that it does when his eyes find mine and he smiles radiantly at me. "Would you stop tickling me!" I shout at him as his hand slides down and grabs the spot above my knee and he gives it a squeeze. I laugh once more as I buck my hips and roll him onto his back on his bed. I roll with him and end up on top of him as he lets out a few laughs. "I almost left the room until I saw this lump in my sheets."

"Yeah well I was hoping that your scent would mask mine enough so you wouldn't find me in your bed." I say back to him as I prop my elbows on his chest. I rest my head in my hands and look down at him as he puts his hands behind his head looking the picture of ease. "To tell you the truth, I loved finding you in my bed." Jonathan replies and then winks at me. I roll my eyes at him and push off of him before he can see the blush creeping into my face.

"Come on." I say as I open his door. "Father is still here and it _is_ Warrior Wednesday. We should get back to training."

The rest of the day is pretty uneventful except for the fact that Father is watching us like a hawk in training. We have dinner and by the time I go to bed, I am completely exhausted. I kick off my pants and shirt, revealing my tight white tank top undershirt and my floral underwear, and slip into bed. I take my bra off and let out a sigh of relief and pull it from the inside of my shirt and throw it across the room. Whoever invented those torture devices is surely burning in hell. By the time my head hits the pillow, I instantly fall asleep.

* * *

 **-Jonathan**

I am laying here in my bed with my sheets pulled over my head. I can still smell Clary's sweet scent from when she hid in my bed earlier today. I want to have it envelop me until I am choking on it. I can't go to sleep. I usually _never_ have trouble going to sleep. My almost non-existent conscious allows me to have no worries at the end of the day. The only thing that would keep me up would be something like trying to figure out a better plan for my takeover of the Clave or if I hadn't killed anyone in a while. When that happens, usually the only person who can get me to fall asleep is Clary. I get into bed with her and just listen to her heart beat and it lulls me to sleep. Nine times out of ten she doesn't know that I am in the bed with her until she wakes up in the morning. I guess my stealthiness is one of the perks of my blood.

But tonight, it is the thought of her that is keeping me awake. Thinking about her touching herself while thinking about me as I breathe in her scent has my brain working over time. The demon part of me is screaming at me to go into her room and take her the way I want to. To not care about what she wants and to just satisfy myself. That is something I cannot do. She would _never_ forgive me and hate me for it. All of my dreams of having her by my side willingly would disappear. She would hate me and be miserable therefore making my life less enjoyable. I would probably have to force myself on her every time after that. No. That is not what I want. I want her to continue to love me. She is the only person who ever has and I definitely don't want that to go away. To lose that little twinkle in her eye when she looks at me would be a tragedy.

 _But just think how good she will feel. How she will moan with pleasure. How her body will feel under your touch_. "Shut up!" I yell through gritted teeth at the demon voice inside of my head. I take a deep breath to try and calm myself but all I smell is her. "Fuck!" I mutter loudly as I kick my sheets off of my body.

I swing my legs over the side of my bed and my bare feet hit the lush white carpet of my room. I am only in a pair of boxer briefs and I would usually slip on some shorts and a t-shirt before slipping into bed with Clary. Not tonight though. Not after what I heard her moan while she touched herself. I want to hurry this process along. I want her to realize that she belongs with me in every way possible very soon. I am not a patient man when I want something and I want Clary more than I ever have. She is the only thing worth having patience for.

If I were to climb into bed with her with just my underwear on, it would certainly give her a glimpse of what it could be like to be with me. Now that I know she is already heading in that direction, I will offer as many shoves further to the edge of the cliff before I gently nudge her off and into my awaiting arms. I have seen how she looks at my body. She tries to hide it from me but I know. The way her eyes travel slowly down my body and the way her cheeks heat up with blood as she looks away. Whether she wants to admit it or not, she wants me.

I stand up and walk around my bed and walk to my door before looking back to see that it is twelve thirty at night. I open and close my door and the cold air from the hallway hits me. Father keeps it so cold at night in the rest of the house for some reason.

I make it to the opposite end of the dark wood paneled hallway and turn her door knob. I slip in her room and look over to see she has her fan on. The one that she can't sleep without. She says that she likes the sound of it and it helps her sleep. I look to my left and see her curled up under her covers with only her fiery red hair and fair face sticking out. I quietly walk over to the right side of her bed and slide under the covers next to her. I can feel her body heat rolling off of her and I take a deep breath in, reveling in her scent.

I turn my head to face her as she rolls over in her sleep and lies on her back as the covers are pulled down a bit by her movement. That is when I see that she is wearing a tight and almost see through white tank top and she isn't wearing a bra. Her nipples are pert and poking through the fabric beautifully. If I look hard enough, I can see the outline of her areolas and I feel the blood rush to my dick.

" _Take her now!_ " the demon's voice yells at me. I bite down on my lip and shut my eyes tight and try to focus on thinking about something else. Du'sien demons. Shax demons. That one time that I walked in on Marisol, the cook, naked in the downstairs bathroom. That is unfortunately one site that I will never forget.

Thankfully, it works. I feel myself softening and I slowly open my eyes. I reach over and pull the covers up over her breasts. I can't have them looking at me like that if I am just going to sleep in the same bed with her. I am not sure how long I would be able to hold off if I stare at them again. I look up to her face and I see that her eyes are darting back and forth in her head. She is dreaming. I smile unable to help myself. I love it when she dreams because she talks. Her thoughts and words are completely unguarded.

I roll over in the bed onto my side to watch her. Her eyelids are fluttering slightly and her mouth is twitching randomly. After a few minutes of this, her breathing starts to come in soft sort of pants. Clary's mouth parts slightly and an indecipherable word flows softly through her pouty lips. This is now the talking part of the dream.

Her lips close again and she makes a soft 'mmmm' noise in the back of her throat. " _Train_ " she mumbles lightly. Ah, she is thinking about training. It would figure that that was what she was dreaming about since that is what we did all day. Another 'mmm' sound escapes her lips except this time, it is different. Her mouth parts again and her breathing picks up slightly. It is still soft and breathy, but there is more of a pattern to it.

"Mmmmm." she says again. What on earth could be making her make that sound while she is dreaming about training? I study her face more closely to try and decipher what emotion goes along with her expression. Her brows are furrowing ever so slightly and her eyes are squinting just a fraction. Just when I remember where I have seen that face on her before, another 'mmmm' escapes her lips except this time, it is followed by something else. " _Jona..than_." My fucking name.

My eyes widen in surprise and excitement as I think back to seeing her face like that when she was masturbating. Once I figure that out, all of the pieces fall together. Her short breaths, the mmmm sounds that she is making, and the furrowed brows that she makes while experiencing pleasure. She is dreaming about me. And it's not just any dream. It's a sex dream. It has to be.

This is great. Not only does she think about me when she pleasures herself, she dreams about me pleasuring her. I smile thinking about how soon I will have her. How I will get to watch her face from above as she comes around my dick. How she will grab and pull at me and slide her tiny hands all over my body. "Jonathan... _yes_." she mumbles and I can't help but become completely erect. She wants me and I want her. It is only a matter of time before she caves in. Before she finally sees that being brother and sister is all the more reason why we should be together. We were made for each other. A demon and an angel to balance each other out.

Clary makes a louder unmistakable moan of pleasure and then she throws herself onto her side facing me. Her mouth closes and she huffs out a deep breath as her face relaxes. It would seem that the dream is over. Dammit. I scoot closer to her into the middle of the bed, closing in on her space. If I sleep in the middle, she will have no choice but to be near me when we are both almost naked. I know her and I know she won't wake me up to make me scoot over. She will be forced to be close to me.

When I settle into my spot, pulling a pillow under my head, she seems to sense my presence. Her body feels my warmth and she mumbles " _Jonathan_ " and curls into my chest. She pulls her legs up to her body and tucks her head into the crook of my arm. When her nose hits my skin, the coldness of it almost makes me jerk away. I decide to take my chances and bring my right arm up and wrap it around her body and pull her closer to me. She makes another 'mmmm' sound before finally stilling and falling into a deep sleep. I lower my head to where it is resting on the top of hers and breathe her scent in. Her smell and her presence is the most relaxing thing in the world to me and within minutes, I am finally able to fall asleep.

* * *

 **-Clary**

I wake up slowly, being pulled from my dreams unwillingly, as I know that it is morning. I have that feeling of having slept really hard for a really long time. My legs and arms are stiff from the stillness and I can feel an epic stretch coming on. I go to move my arm and find that there is something heavy on it. And then I realize that I am snuggled up to something that is very warm.

My eyes snap open and I am faced with a perfectly sculpted chest and I can see an angelic rune just below the shoulder. It's Jonathan. One of his arms is stretched under my pillow that is under my head and the other is wrapped around my body in a sort of protective manor.

My heart begins to pound in my chest. I am just in some floral underwear and a white tank top and from the looks of it, Jonathan is just in some shorts or something. I slowly slide my hand to the covers and lift them up. I look down and see that Jonathan is only wearing tight boxer briefs and he has a very male morning 'problem' that is dangerously close to my private area. 'Holy shit. Holy shit!' I say over and over in my head. What do I do? Jonathan must have not been able to sleep last night. He always comes and sleeps in my bed when he can't sleep saying that he likes to listen to the steady rhythm of my heart and it helps him sleep.

The one big difference from this time and the others is that he is usually wearing some shorts and a shirt of some sort and stays on his side of the bed. He seems to have forgotten to put those on. One of my legs is tucked in between his comfortably and my arms are in between us folded up. His breathing is still steady and even and he even snores lightly a couple of times. He is still asleep. I wonder what he would say if he woke up and found me in his arms like this? I know that I am slightly horrified that I have been cuddling in bed with my brother while we are almost naked. On the other hand, I am slightly turned on that I have been cuddling in bed with Jonathan while we are both almost naked. His arms feel strong and sure around me and his skin is comforting on mine. I can feel his heart beating in his chest from where my forehead is pressed against it. I swear, nobody's heart beats like Jonathan's.

Maybe that is why I slept so good. Maybe it was because Jonathan was holding me to him. I was wrapped in his arms for who knows how long and the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of being wrapped in his arms. I feel unbelievably comfortable here and I seem to fit perfectly in them. I slowly start to wonder what it would feel like to reach out and place my lips on his chest. To give him a kiss there where his heart is. Right over the heart that has only ever loved one person. Me. I am sure he won't even notice if I do. Nobody has to know it. I can allow myself this one little moment of weakness, right?

I slowly turn my head up, very careful not to wake him because of his heightened senses. I am looking directly at his flawless skin that is pulled tightly over his hard muscles and I swallow hard and try to calm myself down. I have adrenaline coursing through my veins all of a sudden. I move the one inch closer to his chest and when my nose grazes his skin, I feel a sense of relief wash over me. All of these dreams and thoughts I have been having about him come rushing back to me and I am suddenly not so afraid of the feelings that accompany them anymore. Not while I am lying here in his arms.

I take a deep breath and inhale his scent in and I relax into him even more. I pucker my lips and slowly bring them to his skin and I feel a jolt of electricity start at the point of contact and run quickly down to my toes. I press them slightly harder to his chest and close my eyes getting lost in the sensation of his skin under my lips. I have dreamed and imagined this so many times now and it is nothing compared to the actual feeling of it.

I slowly pull my lips back and I find my breathing starting to become shaky. I close my eyes and concentrate on calming myself down. A few slow and deep breaths later, I am calm again. I tuck my head back to his chest and allow myself a few more minutes of enjoying being in his arms.

After about five minutes, I bring myself back to reason. This is my brother that I am having these very unhealthy thoughts about. I have to keep reminding myself that when I shouldn't have to. I should have this natural aversion to him and think that him kissing me is disgusting and not incredibly desirable. I should have immediately recoiled and pulled myself from him the moment I woke up. I should have jumped out of bed and wrapped myself in my robe and shouted at him to get out. I should _not_ be wanting to press myself up against him so I can feel his member pressed against me (which appears to be quite large considering the size of the tent in his underwear).

I need to extricate myself from his arms without waking him up. I can't let him know that we slept in each other's arms last night. I can't let him see what he is doing to me. I can't let him see the blush that is on my face.

I move like a snail as I begin to turn slowly in his arms, careful to not move the bed or his arm in anyway that may result in him waking up. It takes about five minutes but I finally am facing away from him with his arms still wrapped around me. I let myself internally celebrate this success for just a moment. I reach down and start to slowly lift his arm off of me... and then he stirs in his sleep.

He groans lightly and his arms tighten around me and he pulls me flush with his chest. He buries his face in the crook of my neck and pushes his hips forward into me. I am so incredibly glad and sad at the same time that his morning problem is gone. I can still feel his 'piece' pressing against my butt and that alone is enough to make the spot in between my thighs quiver. I can only imagine the conflicting feelings his erection would give me if it were pressed against me when just having his flaccid member against me turns me on so much.

His breathing slows again and I think he is asleep again. "Good morning." Jonathan whispers quietly in my ear. I startle a little at his words as I thought he was still asleep.

"Um...good morning." I say unsurely back to him. How come he is not letting me go? How come he is not rolling away and getting out of bed, embarrassed by mine and his lack of clothing. "I don't know about you but I slept like a rock." he says into the crook of my neck. His voice is still rough from sleep and it is sexy as hell. His arms tighten a little around my waist and I feel his skin on my bare stomach because my shirt rode up as I turned around in his arms. His skin is warm and comforting against mine. "I slept pretty good too." I say to him a little reluctantly. "What time is it?" He is on the side of the bed that my clock is on and I have no clue as to the time of day. When I woke up earlier, it felt like I had been sleeping for a long time and my curtains are pulled tightly shut not allowing sunlight to get through. I also ask him so he will roll over and let go of me and I can run away. Not run away from him but run away from the feelings he is stirring inside of me. To say that I am afraid of my own self right now is an understatement.

He leans away from me but to my disappointment and pleasure, his arms still stay firmly wrapped around me. He even pulls me with him a little as he cranes his neck around to look at the clock. "Wow. It's nine-fifteen." He rolls back over and returns to his previous place; his head tucked into the crook of my neck. The both of us have always woken up at six sharp everyday. Even on the rare days that either one of us could sleep in, we couldn't sleep past six-thirty or seven on account of our bodies being trained for most of our lives to wake up at six.

"I haven't slept past seven in like four or five years." I say with surprise. I must have underestimated how long and hard I slept and how comfortable I must have been in Jonathan's arms to be able to do that.

"Me either." he says roughly in my ear again. I shiver a little at his breath hot on my skin and I close my eyes. I allow myself to relax into him for a few seconds, loving the feel of his face right next to mine in such an intimate way. He probably has no idea how intimate it is. He has always had trouble knowing boundaries and human emotions and what is appropriate or not. Jonathan probably has no idea that this is what couples do and not brothers and sisters. At least that is the lie I tell myself.

We lay there for a minute longer in silence and then I come to my senses again. Before he can pull me back, I push his arm off of me and hop out of bed. "We have to leave at ten to see Victoria and Ellie. We should get ready." I say as I practically speed walk along the wall of windows that are opposite of my door. They face the front of the manor and have a beautiful view of the front garden. My bathroom is along the front of the house too and has a beautiful window in it that provides a lot of light. I swiftly open the door and shut it behind me in haste and press myself against it.

I didn't dare turn around to see Jonathan's face. I haven't seen his face at all since he woke up and I am not sure if I would have wanted to. Would his face be impassive or would he look at me the way he looked at me in my dream last night? Like I was his own personal miracle sent here to save him from himself. The look in his eyes was the most beautiful site I had ever seen. It was filled with so much love and trust which are the two things he has the most trouble with. I close my eyes and try to slow my heart rate as I try to forget it. I am sure Jonathan and his super hearing can hear every beat of it.

I bring my hand to my lips and remember the way the skin of his chest felt against them. That is something I am not sure if I want to remember or forget. It would surely be better if I were to forget it but I really, really don't want to. I can still feel the remnants of the electricity that ran through me at the contact of my lips on his chest. I felt so alive.

"Clary." Jonathan says loudly. I let out a startled scream and jump. I can tell his face is close to the other side of the door.

"Shit Jonathan." I say in exasperation. "You scared me." I slip on my short thin robe and open the door. I wasn't expecting his face to be right there in front of me. He is still in his boxers and has one arm on the door jamb and is leaning forward into the doorway. I freeze at his closeness and he somehow traps my eyes with his. He looks slightly amused. It is probably because he scared me which is something that is hard to do to me.

"I just wanted to say thanks for letting me crash in your bed." he says with a softness to his voice. "I slept really well and I am sure it was because of you."

I dip my head a little so he can't see my cheeks flame red. Damn my fair skin and its inability to hide my emotions. "I slept good too." I say. I think that most of the blush in my face is gone and I chance a look back up. I am not doing too well looking down. My eyes keep darting to the deep 'v' at the bottom of his abdomen and occasionally at his manhood.

"Thanks hun." He leans down and kisses me on the cheek, something he has only ever done a handful of times, and then turns and walks away. I watch him walk to my door and step through it before I go back into my bathroom. When I shut the door I turn and look into the mirror and see that I was really wrong. My face is still beet red and I wonder why he didn't call me out on it. He always points out when I am blushing.

I am so confused right now. What I need right now is too not think about anything. I turn around and push the knob on my shower and twist it on. I stick my hand in the water to make sure that it is a cold, but not too cold. I need to wake myself up out of this funk I have been in. I need to push away all thoughts about Jonathan that are less than sisterly affection. I have got to stop this craziness. I can't let it keep affecting me like this. I just can't. He's my brother.

* * *

 **I just wanted to give a shout out to my eight followers for this story. Woohoo! I've got eight followers! Lol. It's a good thing that I don't do this for the follows because I would seriously be depressed if I did. I do it because I love to write and have these ridiculous stories running through my brain all day and have to 'write' them down so I can sleep at night. It's all good, though. I will keep writing no matter if all I ever have for this story is you eight who obviously have the eye for amazing talent like myself. Wink, wink.**

 **I also wanted to give credit to Aelin Sardothian for the 'ultimate' glamour rune and the idea of her and Jonathan's predator/prey game. I love her stories and you will too if you go and read them. She is my favorite Clonathan writer.**

 **And one more thing. I want to say thanks to my loyal reviewers. Ya'll know who you are and ya'll are AWESOME!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The song used in this chapter is Arms by Christina Perri (acoustic version)**

* * *

After a _very_ cold shower, I put on some of my more 'mundane' clothes. I wear my favorite light denim cutoffs where the pockets slightly hang out of the bottom and a maroon v-neck t-shirt. My hair is hanging down to the middle of my back in soft waves and I only wear minimal makeup; eyeliner and mascara. I step out of my room and into the hallway and find Jonathan waiting for me perched precariously on the banister at the top of the stairs. He looks fucking hot.

He is wearing a white t-shirt with a black pocket on it where his peck is and I can see all of his runes through the shirt. The dark swirling lines are a stark contrast to his fair skin. The jeans he is wearing are my favorite of his. They hug his butt perfectly without being too tight on his legs while his hair looks perfectly rumpled giving him the perfect 'just rolled out of bed' look that makes me swoon.

I jerk my head down and fiddle with my stele, tucking it in my shorts pocket. Apparently the cold shower didn't work. I am still lusting after my brother like a pervert. "You ready to go?" I ask him without looking up. I am suddenly very interested in picking the strings hanging down from the frayed edge of my shorts.

"Just waiting on you." he replies. I hear him push off of the banister and stand up straight. I walk over to where he is, still not looking at him, and lean over the railing. "We are leaving, Dad!" I shout down. I know he can hear me if he is in his office. After a few seconds of waiting for his reply, his butler, George, steps into site.

"Your Father has left for the day on business, Miss. Morgenstern." he says professionally. "He wanted me to relay the message for you and Mr. Morgenstern to be back at dinner."

"Thanks George! You're the best!" I shout down with a smile. No matter how much I try to get him to loosen up, he can't seem to. He is a professional through and through although I suspect that he loves me to death. He has seen me raised since I was five.

I turn around and face the wall of the upstairs hall and pull my stele back out of my pocket that I just tucked into it while trying to avoid Jonathan's eyes. I put the tip to the wall and draw the portal rune and watch the wall transform into a pool of blue. Jonathan steps forward and takes hold of my hand. We always hold hands while traveling by portal. It lessens the chance of us picturing a different place than the other and being put down separately.

"Ready?" Jonathan asks looking down at me. When I look up at him he smiles and I smile back at him. "Lead the way, big brother." I tell him. He steps forward then and the portal takes hold of us. We tumble through space and then I am turning. I feel Jonathan's hand cup the back of my head and a fraction of a second later, we hit the ground hard and begin to roll. Jonathan has me caged in his arms and is bracing me against the ground, protecting me from getting hurt. We finally come to a stop about ten feet away on the long wooded driveway. I have no idea what happened. We _always_ land perfectly on our feet as a product of our rigorous training.

I open my eyes and see that Jonathan is laying on top of me perched up on his elbows. His arms are still around me in between my body and the ground. One of his hands is on the back of my head and kept me from hitting it on the ground as we tumbled. He looks down at me with concern on his face. "Are you okay, Clary? Are you hurt?" His other hand comes up and starts brushing along my face and hair checking me for injury.

"Yeah. I am fine. You protected me." I say to him.

"I will always protect you." When he says this, his voice is fervent and full of conviction and his eyes are looking deeply into mine.

A smile starts to tug at the edges of my lips and I subconsciously reach up and pick some pieces of grass gently out of his hair. "I know you will." I say quietly to him.

"I don't know what happened." Jonathan's voice is quiet and deep and my eyes dart back to his. "I saw the ground approaching fast and we were turned to the side and I wrapped myself around you. I was just worried that you would get hurt."

"Well I didn't thanks to you." I say with a gentle smile. His hand is still cupped behind my head and the other is now picking grass out of my hair. "Are you okay, Jonathan?"

His mouth turns up on one side and he gives me his heart-breakingly sexy half smile. "I have never been better." The energy between us suddenly changes and I find myself looking at him with longing. His hand trails gently across my face and his thumb gently skims across my chin. I have never seen his eyes so soft. They are looking down at me and I swear they don't look as black as they usually do. They are verging on becoming a really dark brown. "Clary." he says like a prayer. He is looking at my eyes, my lips, my hair and his arms are holding me gently. He has never been so gentle with me and I start to feel butterflies in my stomach. "I..." he starts to say and then he stops as he seems to think better of it.

I realize that my hand has moved of its own will down onto his face and I am cupping it. My other hand is pressed against his chest and I can feel his heart pounding under his skin. My lips part slightly and I look down at his lips which mirror mine and then I am rolling him off of me. I see his hurt expression briefly before I look away and roll to my feet. I look down and begin to brush the dirt off of me. "We had better get going before we are late." I say without looking at him.

I turn and begin to walk down the path to the Dieudonne manor. We always make the portal dump us out a little ways down their drive so they don't see us come out of it. It would raise too many questions as to why we always have warlock open portals for us if Father hates them so much. No one knows about my portal abilities beyond the family.

After I get a few feet away and I don't hear Jonathan following me, I turn around to see him staring at me. All of the brown has left his eyes and the softness of his face is completely gone. He looks half dazed and half upset and half rejected all at once. I feel a pain in my chest at his face and think that I am the one that did that to him. Whatever was just happening between us is something he didn't want to end even though it had to. He is my brother. Even if he was looking at me like he did in his dream. Like I was his miracle sent here to save him from himself. Rolling him off of me as he looked at me like that was either the smartest decision of my life or the dumbest decision. I have no clue which one it is. Right now, looking at his face, I would say it was the dumbest.

"Jonathan." I say softly. The tone of my voice holds an apology that I hope he picks up on. My eyes are trying to convey my apology also and he huffs out a breath and closes his eyes for a moment. When he opens them, his expression is almost back to normal. His face still holds a little bit of annoyance and he seems a little tense. I stand in place and wait for him to get next to me and then walk beside him.

The air between us is awkward and a little thick and I can tell he is upset with me. I hate when he is upset with me. It hurt me too to push him away, but it had to be done. It just had to be.

We walk for a few minutes before I decide I can't take it anymore. I reach out and grasp his hand like you would hold a stranger's hand; our fingers not intertwined. At first, his hand is stiff in mine, not wrapping his fingers around my hand. I reach across my body and touch his arm above his wrist with my hand and rub it gently. After a few seconds, he seems to relax and then he is twining our fingers together without looking at me.

While we are walking, this song that I heard not too long back keeps playing in my head. I think is was called Arms by Christina Perri.

 _I never thought that you,_

 _would be the one to hold my heart._

 _But you came around_

 _And you knocked me off the ground from the start_

I look up to Jonathan and see the sun glinting off of his hair and think about how truly beautiful he is.

 _How many times will you let me change my mind and turn around_

 _I can't decide if I'll let you_

 _Save my life or if I'll drown_

 _I hope that you see right through my walls_

 _I hope that you catch me cause I'm already falling_

Jonathan and I walk the rest of the five minute walk up to the opening of the front lawn and then I let go of his hand. He seems a little bothered by this but not too much. I walk up the steps and then knock on the large double doors and step back. Jonathan brings his hands to the tops of my arms and rubs them up and down in a sweet gesture that he does all the time and then the door swings open.

Victoria, who is my age, smiles brightly at me and squeals quietly with delight the way girls do. I return her smile, but don't squeal, and we hug each other breifly. When she pulls back, I am pulled into a softer hug by Ellie, who is closer to Jonathan's age, and some of her chocolate brown hair gets in my mouth. She looks amazing today. Her shirt is low cut and as tight as a shirt can be and she is wearing similar cut offs to mine. The difference between us is that her legs look long and sexy where as mine look short and shapeless when I stand next to her.

"I am so glad that you decided to come for a visit." Victoria says with a smile. She glances over my shoulder and looks at Jonathan with a slight swoon and I internally roll my eyes. "Hello Jonathan." she says with a little too much huskiness to her voice and I find myself suddenly wanting to punch her in the face.

"Hey Victoria." he says politely back. I then turn my attention to Ellie who hasn't said a word yet and see that she is looking up at Jonathan through her lashes as she pushes her chest out a little and raises up on the balls of of feet. "Hey Jonathan." she says seductively. I narrow my eyes at her and where I wanted to punch Victoria, I now want to _kill_ Ellie.

"How's it going, Ellie?" Jonathan says as he steps in the door to stand next to me. Victoria grabs my hand and leads me up the stairs and I can hear both Jonathan and Ellie following as Ellie speaks to him. "Sophie told me that you two broke up." Her and Sophie just so happen to be best friends. That is how Jonathan met Sophie. Her voice is sad sounding and filled with false concern. "I am so sorry to hear that."

Yeah, I am sure she is _so_ sorry.

"Don't be." He says quickly back to her. "She wasn't my girlfriend even though she told everyone she was. She was just there for sex." His voice is indifferent and uncaring and a part of me is happy that he felt that way about her.

"Oh." Ellie says a little surprised. "She was devastated saying that she was vowing to get you back."

Jonathan lets out a little chuckle as we reach the top of the stairs and walk into the lounge they have set up on the large landing. There are two comfortable tan couches and a pool table situated in the middle. The girls will turn it into a beer pong table when they have a party. On the other end of the lounge, there is a television (a rare site in Idris) with a collection of movies underneath it.

"Well that is just pathetic." he says after his chuckle in response to what Sophie told Ellie. Ellie seems to brighten at this information and she even lets out a few chuckles kind of like an after thought.

We go over to the couches and plop down. Victoria sits on one end of one of the couches and I go to sit beside her as Ellie sits on the other side of me. Jonathan takes a seat on the other couch and Ellie looks over at him and pokes her bottom lip out slightly. "Jonathan, you are all by yourself over there."

"It's alright." he says flatly.

"I'll come join you." Ellie says brightly as she jumps up and falls onto the couch very close to him. A little too close for just friends to be. Another wave of wanting to kill her runs strong and hard through me. Jonathan seems completely unphased by her appearance next to him as she discreetly tugs her shirt down some more to reveal more of her cleavage.

"Let me tell you how romantic Jon and I's last date was." Victoria tells me. I close my eyes for a second and then look over at Jonathan who is smirking wildly at me. He won the fucking bet and now I have to call him Master for two days. I now really regret making that bet.

Victoria tells me about her and Jon Cartwright's trip to Allicante and the romantic horse ride. How he took her to a candy store and then they rode to Lake Lynn and ate all of it on a blanket on the shore where they then 'made passionate love'. Her words, not mine.

I look over to Jonathan when she is done with her incredibly long story and see that Ellie has him engaged in a conversation. Her body is turned towards his and she has her arm propped up on the back of the couch while the other one is moving freely. Apparently, she finds something Jonathan said to be incredibly hilarious and she brings her free hand up to playfully push on his chest. When she does, her hand lingers on his chest and slides slightly down to near his belly button. I narrow my eyes at her and Jonathan looks over to me.

He sees my face and seems to smile at it. He turns his body slightly towards Ellie and smiles brightly at her as he then launches into the funny story of how one time he was so drunk, that he didn't realize the woman he was hitting on was an Eidolon demon in disguise. Ellie is leaning into him and listening intently and I think it is about time to leave. Just as I am about to say so, Victoria stands up and grabs my hand and pulls me with her. "You have to give me your opinion on which dress to wear tomorrow for my date with Jon." she says brightly to me. "I have already asked Ellie but I want another opinion."

I am about to say that we need to leave when I remember why I wanted to come here in the first place. I also wanted to ask the girls _alone_ about the whole 'being attracted to your sibling' thing without Jonathan as to not raise any suspicion. I look back over to Ellie and Jonathan who are leaning closer to each other than then situation calls for and I decide that Victoria by herself will have to do. Ellie keeping him distracted is the perfect cover. Even _if_ she is acting like a slut.

"Okay." I say with a smile and Victoria pulls me down the hall to her room. I shut the door behind me as she runs over to her closet. I watch her as she thumbs through her clothes and almost die at the tiny scraps of fabric she is holding that she calls dresses. "I have to try them on so you can see the whole picture." She starts to strip in front of me, throwing her clothes next to me on the bed where I am sitting. I am used to Victoria stripping in front of me. I went shopping with her once and I think she was naked more than she had clothes on.

That is when I first learned the term, bikini wax. After that, I started to 'landscape' my area. I am not hairless like a child, but there is barely any hair down there. Before that, I looked like a 70s porn star. At least that is what Victoria said.

I watch as she starts to slowly shimmy her way into her dress and I decide that it is now or never. "You know my dad came home and told me about these siblings." I say and see her look up at me and smile, letting me know that she is listening. I swallow hard for some reason and continue. "He said that when he was on a business trip, he found out that this brother and sister had become attracted to each other. That they wanted to 'do things' with each other."

Her face screws up into something that can only be described as disgust. "Oh my _GOSH_." she exclaims.

"I know." I say to her. "I mean, I can understand knowing that your sibling is attractive but..." I let the sentence hang in the air so maybe she will finish it.

"...actually thinking about them sexually is disturbing." she finishes as she slips her arms into the strap of the dress.

"So you have never heard of something like that happening before have you?" I ask while I am practically on the edge of my seat. "Brothers and sisters, or even two sisters or two brothers wanting to 'be' with each other?"

Her face makes that disgusted look again as she says, " _GOD_ , no!" She slips the dress the rest of the way on and then starts to adjust it in her full length mirror. "That is _not_ normal."

My heart falls into my stomach and I feel like I was sucker punched in the face. All of these feelings I have been having are not normal. They are wrong and not natural. I suddenly feel like I have entered a free fall and I am spinning uncontrollably. What the hell am I going to do? Every time I look at Jonathan, I want to rip his clothes off. I want him to hold me and whisper in my ear. I want him to look at me like he looked at me out on their driveway when I was cradled in his arms.

I officially need help and a lot of it. I just want to go home and cry into my pillow and wallow in my self pity like any other self respecting, 'I have incestuous feelings toward my brother' teenage girl.

"Earth to Clary!" Victoria snaps her fingers in front of my face, pulling me out of my head. I look up to her looking dumbfounded as I have forgotten what we were doing in here.

"Sorry." I say to her. "I kinda got lost in my own head for a second there."

She shrugs her shoulders and looks down at me. "It's okay." She steps back away from me to give me a full view of her. The dress she managed to squeeze into is something I am sure a high paid escort would wear. It is a shimmering golden colored dress with tiny spaghetti straps that has a plunging neck line. It comes together in two pieces in the front of her and shows a lot of her inner thigh. So much that it looks like you would be able to see her 'sweet spot' if it were just an inch higher. "Oh my gosh, Victoria. You look amazing." I tell her honestly.

She beams at me and claps her hands together. "I thought so! This is the one that I like and Ellie said yes to this one too."

"Then why did you have trouble picking one?" I say genuinely curious. I mean, if they both liked this one then why didn't she just decide to wear it and forget the other one?

"Because," she walks over to where she threw the other one and picks it up for me to see again, "this one is a bad-ass kind of dress."

I look at it and I have to agree. It is black leather with black geometric lines all over it. The neckline is wide and plunging and is sure to reveal a lot of cleavage. "I had it altered to be shorter." Victoria says as she hands it to me to hold. "It was almost to my knees at first and that just wouldn't do. So, I had them shorten it to just a few inches below my butt."

"Are you going to try it on?" I ask and hold it out to her.

She shakes her head as she spins around in the mirror, checking out her butt in the gold dress. "I think you should try it on. We are practically the same size." Victoria is also short and thin like me.

I immediately start to mimic her previous action and begin to shake my head. "Uh uh." I tell her and lay the dress down next to me on the bed like it is an explosive that will go off at any sudden movement.

"Oh come on Clary!" she says exasperatedly. "You have such an amazing body and you never wear anything sexy."

"That is because my father would literally kill me."

"Well guess what? Your father isn't here right now." She picks up the dress and shoves it in my lap and gives me a stern look. I sigh and stand up to take my shirt off.

I reluctantly step into her closet for some sort of privacy and slip the dress on. It comes to my upper thighs showing a healthy dose of my legs. The neck line is plunging and has these built in cups that push my breasts together and give me a lot of cleavage. I step out into her room and her eyes light up and go as wide as saucers.

"You look so _hot_ , Clary!" she says excitedly. She pulls me to the mirror to stand next to her and a huge grin spreads across her face. "We could bring in so many guys looking so hot together. It would be like catching flies with honey."

"Except for the fact that my father never lets me do anything." I say sourly. I have to admit that I do look pretty hot. Victoria turns around and tells me to wait by the mirror. She disappears into her closet as she yells out of it talking to me. "Where did your father go on this trip when he told you about the brother and sister that have the hots for each other?"

"Um...I think it was New York." I say quickly, unable to come up with another city.

She pops her head out of the door of her closet with wide eyes as she sucks in a big breath of air in surprise. "I bet it was the Lightwood siblings!" she practically screams at me. "Their parents run the New York Institute and the boy, Alec, has always been a little weird when it comes to girls. Ellie practically stripped in front of him and all he kept doing was looking at his sister like he wanted to be somewhere else. He probably wanted her to be the one doing the stripping!" She lets out a round of laughter as she appears back around the corner with two pairs of shoes in her hands. "They are both really hot but not as hot as their adoptive brother, Jace Wayland. Swoon!"

"Yeah, sure." I say noncommittally. "It was probably them." I have heard the Lightwood's name a couple of time but have never laid eyes on them or care that I probably just spread a rumor about them unintentionally. All I can think about is how there is something wrong with my brain for wanting my brother the way I do.

She shoves some black leather studded heels that look more complicated to put on than most bombs are to diffuse. I look up at her in confusion and she rolls her eyes heavily at me. She comes over and bends down to help slip them on my feet. "You wrap these straps around your ankles." The shoes are slightly too big but are definitely manageable to walk in. When I get both of them on, I check myself out in the mirror and I look like I could kick some serious ass while looking like sex on a stick. "Oh my gosh, Clary. Those shoes are perfect with that dress."

I can't help but smile quickly at my reflection. "I do look kinda hot." I say like I am admitting to a murder. It is reluctant and I sound slightly afraid of my own words. And that is when an idea strikes me. I need to distract myself from everything right now. "We should go out. Right now. To a club." I spin and face Victoria who looks almost baffled by my suggestion. "But its daytime." she says and points to the light streaming in the window of her room.

"Not in Los Angeles it isn't." I say with a wicked edge to my voice.

"And how do you suppose we get there?" Victoria says like she has found the most obvious flaw in my plan.

"My father had a device made by a warlock that lets us portal anywhere we want without the help of a warlock."

"That is so _COOL_!" she says with excitement in her voice.

"But you can't tell anyone about it!" I say quickly and seriously. "If my father found out I told you about it he would probably kill me and then you for just knowing about it." She probably wouldn't think I was serious when I said that if she didn't know my father and that he really would do it.

Her face falls just a little but she regains her excited look just a moment later. "I have to get ready!" she says jumping up.

"Make it quick." I say to her. I walk over to her vanity in her room and quickly give myself a smoky eye with dark red lips while she fixes her hair. "I will tell Ellie and Jonathan." I say as I walk over to the door. I open it and step out and look down the hall to the couch that I left them on. I look on in horror as I see Ellie throw her leg over Jonathan and she straddles his lap as he looks slightly surprised. She then presses her lips to his and it feels like someone hit me in my chest. My breathing becomes hard and a huge lump forms in my throat. I have also never wanted to kill anyone as much as I want to kill Ellie right now.

Jonathan brings his hands to the tops of her arms and pushes her back and I decide to make my presence known before they can start sucking face again. I clear my throat and start to walk down the hallway towards them. Jonathan's head snaps over to me, along with Ellie's, and his mouth pops open a little and his eyes widen immensely. His eyes travel slowly up and down my body and when they come to rest back on my face, I just glare at him. "Moving on pretty quickly I see." I say looking between the both of them. Ellie blushes a little and Jonathan pushes her off of him and back into her spot on the couch. "I came to tell you that we are going out. We are going to go to a club in Los Angeles by way of the portal device that my dad gave me." I look pointedly at Jonathan for a split second and he seems to understand.

"Oh my gosh!" Ellie says with enthusiasm and jumps up from the couch. "Let me throw a dress on!" She starts to walk away and then spins around and gives me a once over. "By the way Clary, you look fucking _hot_!"

I smile sexily at her and spin in a circle slowly and say, "I know, right?" She claps her hands a few times and then disappears to her room. I turn around quickly and start to walk back down the hallway to return to Victoria's room. I hear Jonathan coming up behind me as he says wearily, "Clary, wait!"

"Don't worry." I tell him with acid in my voice. "We will be back before dinner and Father will be none the wiser."

"That's not what I was going to say." he says hurriedly and I can feel how he is right behind me now.

"Okay." I say slightly dramatic. "We will kick them out of the room while I draw a portal and they will be none the wiser." My biggest secret is still the powers and abilities I have with runes and no one needs to find out about that.

He huffs out an annoyed breath as I reach Victoria's door. "That wasn't what I was going to say either."

"I am sure that Victoria has a shirt for you to wear too." I say as I spin around to face him with my hand on the door knob. "Jon leaves stuff here all of the time."

His face is slightly annoyed yet pleading. "Clary, listen." he says with fervor.

"Listen," I say exasperatedly, "if you are going to try and explain why you were kissing Ellie, don't bother." My voice has grown cold through the course of my sentence. "I should have known you couldn't keep it in your pants for more than five minutes." Jonathan's face has turned from pleading to just plain annoyed and a little upset. "And anyway, why would I care who you are kissing. You are just my brother." My words feel like acid coming from my mouth. For some insane reason, I do care. A little too much for my comfort and I want to hurt him somehow the way he hurt me. The best way to do that is to pretend that I don't care about him. I know it is wrong and dirty to do that to him when I am the only person to truly love him, but right now I am just angry.

"Well in that case," Jonathan says as he stands up straight and glares at me, "Ellie!" he yells loud enough for her to hear him while she is in her room. "Let me help you pick out your dress!"

I narrow my eyes at him into tiny slits and purse my lips together in anger. I push the door open abruptly and turn and go into it and slam it in his face. I don't even turn around to see his expression. I guess I was wrong about him feeling the same way about me. It is obvious now that all he cares about is where his next "conquest" is going to come from. I should have known better than to expect anything else from him.

Within ten minutes, everyone is dressed and ready to go. We shadowhunters have years of practice throwing ourselves together quickly to go and fight demons. That spills over into our everyday lives as well.

We all meet back in the upstairs lounge and I kick everyone out to use my 'portal device'. When I saw Ellie, my jaw about hit the floor. She was wearing this red body con dress that was like a second skin on her that complimented her chocolate brown hair perfectly. Her large breasts were practically spilling over the top of it. Of course Jonathan would want her. She was everything I am not. Voluptuous, beautiful, and experienced in the sack. And I don't even want to bring up how hot Jonathan looked. Ellie had found him a tight black t-shirt that hugged the plains of his muscles to perfection.

I angrily draw the portal rune and slip my stele back into my dress and shout for everyone to come back around the corner. When they do, Jonathan's arm is draped over Ellie's shoulders and I am barely able to suppress the angry growl building in my throat at the site of them. Ellie takes the lead because she is the one who has been to a really big and awesome club near Rodeo Drive. Jonathan, of course, takes Ellie's hand and I reluctantly take his and then Victoria's and we all step into the portal.

We land moments later in an alley and it is really dark. I look around and find that everyone has landed upright and on their feet. Ellie smiles brightly and takes Jonathan's hand and begins to pull him to the mouth of the alley. When we step out and onto the sidewalk, I am surprised to find that we are actually on Rodeo drive. "It is just a few blocks this way." she says and takes a left. Victoria and I walk behind Jonathan with his arm slung over Ellie's shoulders and I try my hardest to focus on what Victoria is blabbing about. It is something about how Jonathan C. and her got back together after their last fight two weeks ago. I don't really have to contribute much to the conversation which is good because my brain is too occupied with angry thoughts about her sister and my brother.

After a ten minute walk, we arrive at the club and see that there is a long line outside the front of it. "No worries." says Ellie and she finishes her glamour rune on her arm and becomes invisible to the mundane world. We all follow suit and slip into the club unnoticed. Once inside, we duck into a secluded corner and cancel out our runes. Victoria and I are the first ones to step out and into the main part of the club and it looks amazing. I can see that there is a second floor ( I am assuming that it is the VIP area) that wraps around the edges of the club. The dance floor below is packed tight and the bar is huge. It runs the whole length of two walls and there are plush yet modern black couches around the other two walls.

There are colored lights flickering around and the bass from the music is vibrating in my body. To be honest, this is the first time that I have ever been to a club because of my very secluded life. Ellie and Victoria of course don't know that, but Jonathan does. Speaking of Jonathan..."Don't leave my side." he says lowly into my ear from behind.

I spin on him suddenly very angry. "Why?" I shout at him. "So I can watch you make out with Ellie all night? I don't think so." I turn and dart between two people quickly before he can grab me and I melt into the crowd. Victoria is in front of me and the both of us are getting a lot of appreciative glances from most of the men. I see one particularly hot guy with blonde hair staring at me and I smile sexily back at him as Victoria and I approach the bar. "Hot guy at our 3 o'clock." I say into her ear.

She turns to the right and sees the blonde guy I am talking about and then looks back to me. "He _is_ hot, Clary." she says fondly back at me. "You should totally dance with him."

"But what if he doesn't ask me?"

"Oh, he will." she says and looks over my shoulder. I lean over the bar and order our drinks using a persuasion rune on my arm, and then we turn back and face the dance floor. I instantly spot Jonathan on the lowered dance floor area with Ellie. She is grinding on him in a way that would make most strippers blush. It is almost like he can feel my eyes on him because he looks up to me then and drags his hands down her sides as he looks pointedly at me. I scowl at him and then look away. I can't watch that anymore.

"Don't worry, Clary." Victoria is standing next to me now and is looking at our siblings. "I am sure they will have sex a few times and then everything will go back to normal." Even though she meant the words to be comforting, they just make me angrier. "And don't worry. I am a great wing-man." she adds on at the end.

"What?" I say confused and then the blonde guy from earlier steps into view. "Hey. I'm Charlie." He smiles at me and flashes perfect white teeth to go along with his perfectly symmetrical smile. He holds out his hand and I reach out and take it. He shakes my hand gently as I say, "I'm Clary and this is my friend Victoria."

She raises her hand and waves once at him. He turns and smiles at her. "I have a buddy that is at the bathroom right now. You are just his type."

"Oh thanks, but I..." and her words cut off as, who I am assuming is his friend, walks up and smiles at Victoria. "...don't have a boyfriend." She smiles seductively at him and bats her eyelashes at the new guy.

"I'm Jacob." he says with a flick of his dark hair. He looks to be Italian or maybe Greek and is drop dead gorgeous. She giggles a little and I have to suppress my eye roll. Only thirty minutes ago she was talking about how wonderful Jonathan Cartwright is and telling me how in love she is with him.

"Would you ladies like to join us upstairs?" Charlie asks and holds out his arm.

I blush and say sure and take his arm as Victoria takes Jacob's and then we are passing by a large bouncer and climbing up some stairs. We join them at their table and we talk. He tells me that him and his friend Jacob are in school to become plastic surgeons and I tell him that I am an artist while Victoria tells them that she just launched her first clothing line last month. They happen to be really funny guys constantly cracking jokes and adding commentary for people down below; Charlie pretending to be the guy and Jacob pretending to be a girl that are flirting with each other.

I have to refrain from looking down every few seconds because I can feel Jonathan's angry gaze on me. He can see us from below because the table we are at is near the railing of the second floor. I know he is watching me like a hawk. I glanced down there one time and met his eyes. Ellie was hanging all over him and he had one arm wrapped around her waist. I glare back at him before I turn back to Charlie.

"You look angry." Charlie comments as I turn back to him. I huff out a breath of air and feed him a lie. "My ex-boyfriend is down there with some new hot girl hanging all over him." I look over to Victoria who is now in the corner with her tongue down Jacob's throat.

Charlie abruptly stands up and holds his hand out to me. "Then lets go dance." I look up to him and his radiant smile and take his hand with a smirk of my own. He leads me back down the stairs while holding my hand and then pushes his way through the crowd, making a clear path for me. When we reach the edge of the dance floor new a long wall, he turns around to face me and pulls me to his body. My face is now dangerously close to the lower part of his face (because I am wearing heels) as he starts to sway his hips.

I follow his lead and move my hips to the music. His arms slide around my waist and he pulls me flush with him. I smile up at him and move my pelvis against his and he gives me a sort of hungry lustful look and I smile at my ability to do get that kind of reaction out of him.

I spin around in his arms and push my butt against his front and wiggle my hips from side to side as I slide down his body. I throw my hands over my head and press them up against his body as I slide and push my nails gently into him. He lets out a groan of pleasure and I slide back up his body. When I stand back up, his hands slide down my stomach and then over to my hip bones and he pulls my butt harder into him as we move together.

I toss my head back and let it rest just below his shoulder as I press my body flush with his. He dips his face into the crook of my neck and I can feel him skim his nose and lips up my neck, not kissing it, and it sends chills through me. I close my eyes and then I suddenly feel Charlie disappear from behind me.

I turn around and see that Jonathan has him by the neck and is pushing him to a set of doors off to the side and he looks absolutely murderous. "Jonathan! Stop!" I yell as I start to follow after them. Charlie's eyes dart to me in a plea for help as he grabs helplessly onto Jonathan's arm that is connected to his throat and I send him an apologetic look.

Jonathan reaches the door and kicks it open. It is a supply closet filled with extra glasses and liquor. Great. Things Jonathan can break and use as a weapon. He pushed Charlie up against a shelf of liquor and I reach behind me and push the door shut. The lock is broken from Jonathan kicking it in and I mentally calculate that about four people saw him drag Charlie into this closet. I would say that we have about three to four minutes before angry bouncers come looking for us.

"Let him go!" I shout at Jonathan. Charlie's face has begun to turn blue from the lack of air thanks to Jonathan's death grip around his throat. He doesn't loosen his hold and I yell with more authority this time. "I said, Let. Him. Go!" My voice is stern and unwavering and Jonathan relaxes his hand a little so he can breath. Poor Charlie sucks in air in a rush and some of the color returns to his face. I figure this is the best that Jonathan is willing to do and I accept that. I don't think he is going to let him go so easily.

"What in the hell do you think you are doing?!" I shout at him. He turns his head and looks at me angrily.

"I didn't know you could act like such a fucking _slut_!" he shouts, his voice full of venom.

My mouth falls open in shock for a fraction of a second and then I get angry. He is glaring at me with the look that makes grown men quiver in their skin but he doesn't intimidate me. I step closer to him. "I wasn't doing anything close to as vulgar as what Ellie was doing with you. The way she was grinding on you was disgusting you fucking hypocrite! Don't you _DARE_ call me a slut! It's you who has a new fucking girl on your dick every week!"

"You let him have his hands all over you!" Jonathan is shaking with rage right now and Charlie is watching the scene before him with wide and scared eyes, not moving a muscle. I think he is afraid to regain Jonathan's wrath that it is now directed at me.

"That is what happens when you dance with someone!" I shout venomously back at him. "You should know with the way your hands were dragging up and down Ellie's body...or did you forget that part?" I step closer to him. "Not to mention, when you had your tongue down her throat earlier when I walked into the room."

"And I have been trying to tell you that _she_ kissed _me_!" His voice is angry still but there is an undertone of pleading in it. "I was pushing her off of me when you came in. I have no interest in her, at all! I was just trying to make you mad because you said you didn't care that I was kissing her."

I am momentarily taken back by his words. I thought for sure that he was just looking to have sex with her. "But you have been all over her all night!" I shout angrily back at him.

"Yes, to make _you_ jealous." His words hit me like a tsunami. He was trying to make me jealous by being with another girl. That means he knows how I feel about him. That I am attracted to him. That I just might be falling in love with him. Holy shit. Does he feel the same way about me?

I am just standing there with this surprised look on my face, frozen in my spot, as all of that ran through my head. His eyes are looking deep into mine and I can't seem to look away. He is breathing a little heavily and I am barely breathing at all. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say right now. "But...Jonathan." I finally say on an exhale of breath. I am about to say that we can't when he moves as quick as wind and knocks out Charlie and then he is on me.

He puts an arm around my waist and yanks me to him and before I can pull myself out of my shell shocked state of mind, his lips find mine hungrily as his other hand slips around to the back of my neck and pushes my face to his.

And there is that damn song again.

 _I tried my best to never let you in to see the truth_

 _And I've never opened up, I've never truly loved_

 _Till you put your arms around me._

His mouth is hot against mine and my blood begins to race in my veins. I have never felt more alive than in this moment.

Moving on instinct alone, my hands come up and rest on his chest. His heart feels like it is going to beat out of his chest. I pull back for a second to suck in some air and then I am the one to move back to his mouth. My hands come up and into his hair and I pull his face to mine. He slips his tongue in my mouth, making my heart and body sing, and then the door flies open.

I instantly push him away from me like he has burned me and look to see two angry looking bouncers. They quickly survey the room and see Charlie knocked out on the floor and then look to Jonathan who just smiles. They both enter the room and he makes incredibly quick work of them; rendering them unconscious within seconds. When he is done, he looks back to me with a radiant smile. He steps toward me and I can tell that he is coming to kiss me again.

The bouncers coming and disturbing us is just what I needed to clear my head. Even though he is my brother, that is not who I am seeing right now. I am seeing the hot guy that I like coming to kiss me, like they are two different people, and that is not good. I _have_ to stop this. He. Is. My. Brother.

I hold my hand up and say, "Stop." He stops in his tracks just a foot away from me. "We should go." I say looking down at the floor and away from him.

"Why, Clary?" he says and he reaches out for me. I step backwards, avoiding his grasp. Even though I am not looking at him, I can tell that I hurt him by recoiling from his hand by his posture tensing. "Because what we just did was wrong and it can't happen again."

His hand comes up quickly and he gently pulls my face up by my chin and gets me to look at him. "But this is what we both want."

"That is not true, Jonathan." Lie. "I only want you to be my brother." Lie.

"I don't believe that for one second, Clary." Jonathan says angrily and with conviction. "You pulled me to you and kissed me back."

I shake my head. "That was a huge mistake. I just wanted to distract you so you wouldn't kill him." I point to Charlie on the ground.

"You are such a bad liar, Clary. You always have been." His voice is dry and upset.

"Jonathan, just...stop." The tone of my voice is surprisingly strong and authoritative and I push around him and step out of the room and back into the club; surprised that he didn't stop me.


	5. Chapter 5

Jonathan comes barreling out of the supply closet about two seconds after I do. He catches me by my wrist and spins me around. The look on his face is somewhere between worry and longing. "Clary. Don't do this. Don't push me away." His voice is serious yet holds a bit of fear to it. I think he thinks that I won't want anything to do with him.

I shake my head slightly at him aware of the eyes that are on me and him. Not more than a minute ago two bouncers went in there and now only Jonathan and I have come out. "I told you. We _can't_." I jerk my wrist from his and I don't turn around quick enough to miss his pained expression and start to push my way through the crowd. Jonathan who has _never_ had a pained expression in his life looked like I just killed his puppy. It is almost enough to break me. He is showing me that he does have feelings buried deep down and I am killing them. Him showing me his emotions is like the most gratifying validation that I could ever have. I always knew he was capable of the softer human emotions even when father laughed in my face for telling him that.

Now if he was just raised by Valentine and he didn't have me to 'soften his edges', I think that would be a different story. Father has never shown much affection to him. I think that if he was raised just by him, then he would have definitely turned out differently. He probably would have lost every shred of human that there is in him.

I find what I am looking for when I see Victoria pulling Jacob behind her. She spots me and makes her way to me. "Where is Charlie?" she asks me with Jacob hovering over her shoulder, waiting for my answer. I glance a look back at Jacob and then back to Victoria and say, "Pulsante eum Jonathan." which translates to 'Jonathan knocked him out.'

Jacob's brows furrow together, obviously not liking the fact that I just gave my answer to her in a language he didn't know, while Victoria's brows raise up in somewhat surprise. Her expression then morphs into understanding and then she turns around to face her suitor for the night. She reaches up on the tips of her toes and whispers something in his ear. He smiles slightly and then nods his head and smiles at her when she pulls back.

Whatever she said worked because he let us go and Jonathan finds us with Ellie following closely beside him. We don't say anything to each other and I lead the way out of the club. Once outside, Ellie lets out a round of laughter and I look back to her like she has lost her mind. She doesn't notice and flirtatiously falls into Jonathan as her laughing subsides. "I didn't know you were so protective of your baby sister, Jonathan. You grabbed that guy's throat and I thought for sure you were going to kill him."

He looks down at her looking very annoyed and when she starts to wrap her arms around his torso, he shoves her back with a disgusted look on his face and she stumbles a little before regaining her balance. Ellie looks up at Jonathan very surprised and a little hurt. "Stop hanging all over me and I won't kill _you_." Jonathan replies as he glares at her. His eyes are dark and black and swimming with a promise and she seems to cower under his gaze a little.

"But Jonathan, I thought we could have a good time, if only for tonight." she says a little shyly as she tries to mask her fear of him.

"You are not who I would ever want in my bed." Jonathan says flatly to her and turns away. He starts walking in the direction of the alley we arrived in. I turn back to Ellie and see that she has wrapped her arms around herself whether in fear or utter humiliation of his rejection, I don't know. After a few seconds, she sets her lips into a hard line and takes off to follow him with Victoria and I not far behind.

"What in the hell happened with them?" Victoria says quietly and looks pointedly between Jonathan and Ellie. "He seemed like he liked her earlier; at least wanted to fuck her."

I look up and see Jonathan's tense posture as he walks, knowing that he can hear us with super senses. "I don't know what happened." I tell her convincingly. "I truly thought he wanted to too." She has made her way to slightly in front of Jonathan and then she stumbles a bit, wobbling on her heels. She reached out for Jonathan to catch her, but he dodged her outstretched hand and just passed by her as she regained her balance. She clearly did that on purpose, hoping that Jonathan would catch her.

She is so stupid for thinking that. I mean, what has she ever seen about Jonathan that makes her think he is into the damsel in distress type of girl? He wants someone strong and capable, who is not afraid of him and can put him in his place when need be. He wants someone like me. No. Not someone like me. He wants me. If I am walking away with anything tonight, it is knowing that Jonathan feels the same way about me that I do about him.

I allow that feeling to consume me for a moment, my heart picking up speed. I wasn't imagining all of the sexual innuendos that he has been dropping. Him holding my hand when we eat together. Him climbing in bed with me with nothing but his boxer briefs on. Him saying that I am his and no one else's.

My heart seems to speed up even faster when I think about those words. My stomach starts to do flips and my head feels light and I dip my head as a smile unwillingly creeps across my face. That is why he said that before I met Curtis. He was staking his claim on me. I don't know what it is about that that I love so much, but I surprise myself by absolutely loving him saying that to me. I thought that if anyone were to say that to me ever, I would quickly snap back that I didn't belong to anyone but myself. But now that I know what he meant by that when he said it, it is kind of a turn on.

And there you go again, Clary. Thinking about _YOUR BROTHER_ as if he were some boy you have a crush on. God, there is something seriously wrong with me.

I quickly clamp down on those emotions and look to Victoria who has been walking quietly beside me for a few minutes now. I can see the alley up ahead while she is looking particularly thoughtful about something. "What are you thinking about?" I ask her. She seems to snap out of her own head and looks over to me.

"I was just thinking about what Sophie said to me and Ellie a couple of weeks ago."

I look at her completely confused. What does Jonathan's "ex" have to do with anything? "What did she say?"

"She said that Jonathan was like a sex god." She looks apologetically at me and I remember that I am supposed to be grossed out to hear such things about my brother. I scrunch my face together like I am grossed out and she seems amused by this. "Sophie said that he always wanted to know how to make her feel amazing and by the end of it, he was like an expert. He would give her multiple orgasms in the span of a few minutes."

Thinking about Jonathan with another woman causes a pit in my stomach to form. The butterflies in my stomach are quickly replaced with a sensation of falling into nothingness while feeling physical pain at the same time making me upset. I look at her angrily and she puts her hands up in defense as she chuckles lightly. "I know, I know." she says like she is placating me. "You don't want to hear it because he is your brother." I turn my head back to in front of us and see Jonathan duck into the alley. "I think that is why Ellie wanted to sleep with him. To see if she was making it up."

"Well I am glad that she was wanting to treat my brother like an experiment, and not like a person." I say dryly. "That makes everything _so_ much better." I look at her flatly and I can see worry build in her as she sees that I am pissed off at what she said. She opens her mouth to say something else but I put my hand up to stop her as we round the corner and into the alley. She stays quiet as I pass by Jonathan.

"Turn around." He says sternly to Victoria and Ellie. They both turn around away from me as he makes sure they don't see how I create portals. I quickly draw the rune and tuck my stele back into my thigh sheath and clear my throat as a sign to turn around as the portal swirls in front of me. I watch as the Dieudonne sisters step through, Jonathan in between the two of them, and I am the last one that the portal pulls in.

* * *

 **-Jonathan**

We land back in the upstairs lounge of the girl's manor and Clary has barely looked at me. She immediately follows Victoria into her room and I am stuck watching her walk away. I am so fucking stupid. I shouldn't have kissed her. Not yet. I should have just said that I was trying to make her jealous and just left it there. That would have been enough for now but I had to go and screw it up by pushing her too far, too soon.

The only problem is that I can't find it in myself to regret doing it. Her lips felt so much better than I had imagined they would. They were so soft and virginal and she tasted like a fucking _angel_. Like sunshine and innocence. When she put her hands on my chest during the kiss, I thought for sure that she was going to push me away. Instead, she pulled back to take a breath before she snaked her hands into my hair and pulled me back to her mouth. She liked kissing me. She wanted to kiss me more but her stupid 'moral compass', as Dad likes to call it, got in the way. I will never understand that part of human emotions. I don't understand why people just don't do what they want all of the time like I do...mostly.

I feel someone pull on my hand then and I look down to see Ellie has taken my hand in hers and is trying to pull me down the hall while she looks up at me seductively. "Just one time, Jonathan." she says sexily. "Let me see if what Sophie has told me about you is true."

I yank my hand out of hers and look at her incredibly annoyed now. Why does she have to be so fucking dense? "I said," I start to say angrily, "you are not who I want in my bed. What is so fucking hard to understand about that?" By the time I am done talking, I can see the fear in her eyes as she looks at me. Ellie slowly starts to back away as I can see her hand shaking a little and the demon inside of me is laughing at her fear of me. I smile my most sinister smile at her and I can see that this unnerves her. She turns and walks quickly to her room and shuts the door.

When she is gone, thoughts of Clary come back to me. All I want to do right now is bust down that door and kiss her until she gives into me. I know it wouldn't take much, but now is not the time. She is still reeling from our kiss earlier and is trying to sort out all of her conflicting emotions. She is probably trying to convince herself that what happened will never happen again which couldn't be further from the truth. Her and I will never be apart from each other and she can't fight her feelings for me forever. Hell, she probably won't be able to fight them for even a few days.

* * *

It has been four days since our little visit to the Dieudonne's house and I am starting to reconsider what I said about her not being able to fight her feelings for me. I have been giving her the space she clearly wants but I am worried that I may have given her just a little too much space.

In the past four days, she has barely said a word to me. We train together but Clary requested from Father the night we got back that the instructor that would fill in for Father when he was busy, Jeremy Pontmercy, come back to show her a few moves. When he suggested that I show her, she practically had a hissy fit saying that she saw him perfect the move and wanted him to show her.

Since then, he has been there when we train watching us, not allowing us any time to talk. The moment we are done with training, she runs off to her room and locks herself in. I can hear her pencil gliding across paper through her door. It is driving me insane not to see what she is drawing. I _always_ see what she is drawing. I tried to look for her sketch book when she was downstairs training but she has moved it from her usual hiding place. I didn't have time to go searching for it without her finding out which almost made me lose my cool.

Dinners are the worst, though. I have still been siting in my usual spot across from Clary with Father in between us at the head of the table, but when I try to catch her eyes, she immediately looks away. To avoid having to look at me, she has been asking Father endlessly about his days and all about Circle business claiming she wants to be more involved so she can be ready to be an 'example' when he takes over the Clave. She only does that so she won't have to talk directly to me or even acknowledge my presence because Father loves to talk about himself and never shuts up once he gets going.

I have decided that tonight after dinner, I am going to follow her to her room and make her talk to me. Make her look me in the eyes. I think the reason she won't do it is because her resolve to stay away from me will start to crumble. I know that after the way she kissed me in that supply closet that she feels strongly for me. I know that she loves me as a brother and I think she is well on her way to loving me as a lover. If I could only get her to talk to me and look at me, I know she wouldn't be able to deny what she really wants for much longer, and that is me.

Dinner drones on painfully slow as Clary continues to ask him about his day and about his view on certain subjects he has been know to be long winded about. Father is practically beaming that his daughter seems to have taken such a strong interest in his beliefs and business. The problem is that she doesn't feel the same way he does about downworlders. Yes, she doesn't exactly like them but she certainly doesn't want them all dead like father does. That is the flaw in her plan and lets me know that she is just trying to find ways to distact herself from what she is feeling for me.

After dessert, Father is still speaking animatedly about the benefits of experimenting on Vampires because they aren't exactly alive or dead, I excuse myself while Clary looks completely lost in his words. I roll my eyes as I leave the dining room and wait for her just inside of her room on the other side of her dresser so she won't see me until it is too late to turn around. She will talk to me tonight. I will not be ignored any longer. I won't be able to take not having her to keep my demon side at bay for much longer. She has always been like a pain pill for me like the mundanes use. It numbs their pain so they can function on a day to day basis. She has always been that for me. Clary keeps my demon side at bay with just her presence. Now that she has taken herself away from me, I can feel him getting stronger and angrier. I need her. Now, more than ever. I am losing patience.

* * *

 **-Clary**

Thank the _angel_ he finally shut up! I didn't think Father would ever shut up about his disgusting experiments on vampires. I knew that once I got him talking about it, it would be hard to get him to stop, but I had run out of things to ask him. It was a crazy act of absolute desperation to avoid Jonathan.

I know what I am doing is absurd and that I can't avoid Jonathan forever, but so far it has been working. I have been trying to get rid of my feelings for him by just ignoring them the past few days, hoping that they will go away if I can just have some sort of distance from him. Instead, the distance I have put in between me and Jonathan has just made things worse for me.

I miss him so fucking much it physically hurts. I miss talking to him and touching him and just looking into his eyes when we talk. I haven't let myself look too long into them knowing that if I do, I will lose my resolve to stay away from him. All I can seem to think about all day is how much I miss him. How much I want to hug him and feel his arms around me. If I am being truly honest with myself, I want to feel his lips on mine again. I want to feel them on mine when I haven't had anything to drink. I can barely remember if they were soft or not. The one thing I do remember is the feeling of flying when they moved against mine and _that_ is why I have to keep him at a distance. The feelings I have for him will eventually go away. I will make them. He will grow tired of his temporary fixation with me and find some other girl to fuck. When he does, it will crush me and I won't want him like I do anymore.

Yes, that is all I have to do. Just hold out until he finds someone else.

"Jonathan!" I say surprised as I realize that I am now in my room. I don't remember the walk here because I was too far gone into my head. Now, I really regret not being more observant because I would have noticed him and turned around before I had to talk to him. I can't talk to him alone because he will want to talk about 'it'. "What are you doing in my room?" I say to him as the surprise of his presence starts to ebb.

He unhitches himself from the side of my dresser, which he was casually leaning on, and takes a few slow steps to where he is in front of me. I try not to look into his eyes and instead, look down at his feet. He has apparently noticed me avoiding eye contact with him over the past few days and reaches out to pull my chin up. I step back but oblige him and look up to meet his gaze. "Now that you are finally looking at me, I was thinking we could talk about what happened between us." Jonathan's voice is cool and steady and I want to punch him for it. I feel like I am going to explode with nervous energy while he seems to be the picture of ease.

"There is nothing to talk about." I say trying to sound indifferent and fail miserably. My voice shakes a little and hearing this, Jonathan smiles at me.

"There is plenty to talk about, Clary." He says as he takes one small step towards me. "You have been avoiding me ever since we kissed and you refuse to look me in the face. Why is that?"

When he asks me that, his voice sounds genuinely curious. "Because, I can't look at you the same way I used to." I admit to him. "Every time I look at you I am reminded how disgusted I am with myself that I let that happen." Lie.

This is when I absolutely hate the fact that he can read me better than anyone because he smiles hugely at me. "Why do you even try to lie to me, Clary?" he says sounding amused. "I know that you are anything _but_ disgusted by the kiss we shared. I know you wanted it just as much as I did."

I should deny it. I know I should, but Jonathan will see right through me. He sees through everyone and he especially sees right through me. He has had too many years of practice studying me for me to be able to get _any_ lie past him. "Fine." I say angrily. "Yes, I wanted it." His eyes light up with victory and what I can only say is happiness. "But none of that matters now." His smile falters a little but doesn't go away. "It will never happen again because what we did was wrong. You are my brother and 'we'," I gesture between him and I, "can never happen. It is wrong and...it's just wrong." That is the only reason I can think of, but it is good enough for me.

He looks at me contemplatively for a moment before he speaks again. "If something that feels so right between us is wrong, then what does that mean for us? Does that mean that you want me to forget about you and find some other woman to kiss? Some other woman to fuck and marry?" I can't help but flinch a little at the thought of that and of course he picks up on that. "I would assume that you would be okay with that about as much as I would be okay with you doing the same with someone else."

"But that is not the point, Jonathan." I say trying to hold him at bay as he takes another step closer. "The point is that brothers and sisters should _not_ be together romantically." My voice is sounding stronger, thankfully, and I press forward. "There is something wrong with me and you for feeling this way about each other." His eyes harden and I can see he is offended by what I said. "We would never be able to be together publicly because Father and society would never allow it."

His eyes blaze up with conviction and he surprises me by stepping forward to where he is only inches from me. "Then lets change the world and society to accept us. Let's make our own world where we make the rules as to what is acceptable or not." He grabs my hand and puts it on his chest and I can feel his heart pounding against his ribs.

If it were anyone other than Jonathan, I would assume that what he just said was nonsense but knowing him, he really meant it. He would take over the world and make it our own if I told him I wanted it. He would give it to me on a silver platter with a smile on his face. I wonder what it would take to take over the world and make it our own. Father wants to do that and he will because he always gets what he wants. But what if Jonathan and I took it from him? What if we made it ours and allowed downworlders to live where Father wants them all dead? Nobody would be able to tell us that we shouldn't be together then.

Wait a minute. What the _fuck_ am I thinking? "Get out, Jonathan." I say lowly to him sounding utterly defeated. I look down at his shoes again and I can see his posture stiffen in my peripheral vision. He steps forward then and I allow him to pick up my chin with his hand and make me look at him. The look in his eyes is almost enough to undo me. His eyes look tired and hurt and his shoulders are now sagging. He actually looks defeated and I have _never_ seen him look that way.

"Okay, Clary." Jonathan says tiredly. "I understand. I won't pressure you again and I won't bring up our kiss again. I won't try to convince to be with me, but you have to stop avoiding me." He slides his hand on my face and I find myself leaning into it without deciding to do it. "I feel like I am slowly losing myself without you by my side. Please don't push me away anymore." His eyes are sad and pleading and it is so rare that he shows me this kind of emotion that my heart lurches in my chest for him. It is like it is trying to jump out of my chest and into his just so I can let him know that I am with him; always.

I nod my head and he lets out a long sigh of a breath and closes his eyes. His hand slides around my face and into my hair at the nape of my neck and I close my eyes as I feel his touch again. I allow him to pull me into his chest and I wrap my arms around his waist as his other arm encircles me. We stand there for a minute just holding each other and I feel him place a kiss on the top of my head. His presence has long been a comfort to me and it feels so good to have that back. I have been so lonely these past four days and I am beyond glad that that is over. I can have my brother back.

The only problem is that I don't believe that either one of us really meant what we said to each other. I don't believe that he will give up and I don't think I can stop having these kinds of feelings for him. At least not anytime soon. I just have to keep telling myself to wait. Hold on for a little while longer. I will eventually not have feelings for him one day. Right?

* * *

Well, shit. It has been an entire week since we 'made up' and my feelings have done the exact opposite of go away. Things have pretty much returned to normal except for the lingering looks we give each other a couple of times a day. I can't help it. He is just _so_ good looking and the way he looks at me makes me feel like I am the best thing in the world to him. He makes me feel so unbelievably loved and special when he looks at me. I am finding it so much harder to pretend that I don't see him 'that' way. The dreams that I continue to have aren't helping either. It seems like my subconscious mind wants to rape Jonathan over and over again in a multitude of ways. After hearing what Victoria told me about what Sophie said about him being such an incredible lover, my mind has trouble focusing on anything else when he is walking around shirtless; which he has been doing constantly lately. I know he is doing it because it makes me nervous. It makes me hyper aware of his presence and that is exactly what he wants.

I try and try to not think about what his lips would feel like on mine but no matter what I do, at the end of the day, that is all I can think about. When he makes me laugh, all I want to do is lean over and kiss him. When he makes me feel beautiful by looking at me the way he has been, I want to pull him too me and run my fingers through his hair and slowly kiss him senseless. Everyday that passes my feelings get even stronger for him. My hands gets clammy and my pulse quickens as my stomach turns flips. It feels like my skin is on fire when he touches me and I don't even want to get into when we train. There are so many positions that render themselves to sex that we find ourselves in that I practically start blushing the moment our skin touches when we start to wrestle. The sexual tension between us has become almost unbearable and I feel like I am going to explode if I don't do something about it. Usually I just go to my room and touch myself with the memory of one of my very R-rated dreams, but that is starting to not be enough. I don't know how much longer I will be able to hold out.

"Clarissa, dear." Father says startling me. I am sitting on the island in the kitchen, the apple I have in my hand long forgotten, and I look up to see an amused look on his face. "Daydreaming again?" he asks with a smile and I nod my head and give him a shy smile back. If he only knew what I was daydreaming about. "I just came to tell you that I will be gone to New York for about five days, maybe longer. It depends on if I find what I am looking for or not."

Well, shit. He's leaving. Usually I would be thrilled, but now, not so much. I have been using Father's presence as a buffer between me and Jonathan at breakfast and dinner. I have also been using his presence as a reason why our eyes can't linger on one another and why he and I can't spend too much time together. Father might become suspicious. That reasoning is ridiculous because we have always spent most of our free time together since we were children, but I have been using it anyway. "What are you looking for in New York?" I ask him and he smiles just a little.

"I am looking for something very important and that is all you need to know right now." he says, his voice sounding placating. "I will tell you when I get back."

I give him a tight smile and nod as he leans forward and kisses my forehead. He straightens up and turns to walk away. "I will be leaving shortly even though it is almost eleven at night. Try to keep your brother out of trouble." Even though his tone is playful, he meant what he said. He knows that I am the only one who can keep him in line other than him.

I push off of the kitchen island and toss my apple core into the trash and start to climb the stairs. When I get to the top, I find Jonathan leaving my room. "There you are!" he says with a smile on his face. "Did you hear the good news?" he asks me. I know he is referring to Father leaving and I can honestly say for the first time that I don't want him to leave. "I heard." I reply and walk past him to my room.

He follows behind me and stops at my door and braces himself on either side of my door frame. He leans slightly inward, letting his biceps flex, and I can't help but let my eyes run over his arms. "Do you still want to train tomorrow?" he asks me as I open my dresser to retrieve some pajamas. "Why wouldn't we?" I say back to him. "You know he will have the staff spying on us like always."

"Not if I give them some time off. Dad _does_ put me in charge when he leaves. I could tell them all to disappear after breakfast." Jonathan suggests. I bit my lip nervously as I contemplate the ramifications of his suggestion. We would be completely alone in the house. No eyes watching us. This could either be a bad thing or a good thing. I will either cave in or rise to the challenge to resist ripping his clothes off when there will be no consequences for our actions. I think I can handle it. No. I _will_ handle it. I am strong and I have already made up my mind about Jonathan and I. 'I can handle this' I say to myself in the biggest lie of my life. "Whatever you say, Jonathan. " I say to him and he smiles widely and turns to walk away. "Fuck!" I mutter loudly under my breath when my door shuts. What have I just done?

* * *

 _"Jonathan." I say with desire. He is shirtless and in black boxer briefs as he walks towards me. I am laying on my bed, propped up on my elbows, in a white lacy bra and a matching lacy thong. Jonathan's eyes trail hungrily up my body as he leans over and begins to climb onto the bed without a word. "What are you doing?" I ask him. He just smirks that sexy as smirk of his at me as his fingers start to graze up my lower leg and then up to my thigh as he climbs further up my bed._

 _My breathing is ragged and giving me away. I am not pushing him away like I should. Instead, all I can think about it how I want his hand to slide to my inner thigh and for him to touch me. The next thing I know, his face is hovering above my stomach and I can feel his hot breath tickle the tiny hairs just under my belly button. I suck in a breath and hold it as his tongue darts out and he begins to lick up my stomach. I close my eyes at the sensation and let my head fall back. His tongue is getting higher; leaving a wet path in between my breasts and I let out the breath I have been holding. I bring my head back up and see that his face is right in front of mine. He looks down to my lips and starts to move forward..._

"Fuck!" I say in frustration as I sit up straight in bed. "Not another one of those dreams again." I say quietly to myself. I have been having sexual dreams about my brother for the past few months and they are really starting to mess with my head. There must be something really wrong with me because I am still turned on; unable to shake the desire I had for him in my dream.

It's not like I don't know that my brother is really, really hot. I would have to be blind in order for me not to know that. It's that he is my brother and I should be disgusted and weirded out by the dream instead of completely turned on. I remind myself that I can do this. I _can_ resist him. I have to.

I kick the covers off of my sweat soaked body and my feet hit the plush carpet in my room. I close my eyes for a moment trying to regain my composure before I walk downstairs to breakfast. I have over slept by fifteen minutes and I don't have the time I usually have to take a shower. I look down and make sure I am decent enough to meet Jonathan downstairs. Father has left for a few days and I am glad that I don't have to get fully dressed for the day to eat breakfast like he makes me. I am just in a tight white tank top and no bra with some tight short black shorts. The shirt is pulled so tightly around my chest that you can practically see everything. I briefly consider just going down in just what I am wearing to see what Jonathan's reaction will be and then quickly regain my sanity. "He. Is. Your. Brother." I say slowly to myself.

I grab my thin and short robe off the back of my bathroom door and brush my bed hair down and check myself in the mirror before heading down. I don't have any smudged makeup around my eyes and the flush on my cheeks from my dream is almost gone. I take a deep breath to clear my head of the dream and leave my room. I make my way downstairs and take a hard left to face the other direction and walk to the back of the manor where the kitchen is.

I enter the kitchen and see that Jonathan is facing away from me at the stove and is already scooping some eggs onto his plate that the cook, Marisol, made. Of course, he is shirtless and when his muscles flex in his back, I blush at the memory of my dream. I look away from him and move towards the plates so I can fix some breakfast for myself. Jonathan turns to me then.

"Why are you blushing, Clary?" Jonathan asks me with obvious curiosity even though I am sure he knows.

I immediately get defensive. "I am not blushing!" I snap loudly back at him. Sure, Clary, he won't be suspicious at all at my pure overreaction of his simple and innocent question.

He furrows his brows at my sudden outburst as he brings a piece of bacon to his mouth and takes a bite. "Someone is just a tab bit defensive." he states as he steps away from the stove with his food. I close my eyes and tell myself to get a grip before I open them again. When I do, I scoop some eggs and bacon and a blueberry muffin onto my plate and make my over to my spot at the table across from Jonathan. I am suddenly hot after my little blushing incident and undo the tie on my robe and let it fall open before I sit down.

I take my seat and pick up my fork and stab a piece of he eggs and bring it to my mouth. When I look up, Jonathan is chewing his food slowly as his eyes focus on my chest. I look down and see that he can see my breasts through the thin material and I blush again and look up at him as I pull my robe closed again. I look up to Jonathan to see him smiling sexily at me. "You don't have to cover up around me, Clary. After all, I am just your brother." he says in a cocky tone.

I narrow my eyes at him as he begins to speak again. "And it's not like you have anything to be ashamed of. You seem to have a great rack from what I could see."

My mouth pops open in surprise at his words and I begin to blush again. He is smiling mischievously at me while I try to think of something to say back to him. "What...why...you're my brother, remember?" is all I manage to choke out. I don't know what else to say. A part of me is flattered that he was looking while the more logical part of my brain screams at me that I shouldn't be flattered because he is my brother.

I look back up to him and he seems thoroughly amused at my flustered state and one side of his mouth turns up into half of a smile. "Your blushing again." he says coolly as he takes a bite of his bacon. I look down at my food and let my hair fall over my face effectively hiding it from his view. Usually when he would say something like that, I would come back at him with a smart-ass remark but right now, I can't seem to think of anything smart-assy to say. The dream I had is still too fresh in my mind for me to form coherent thoughts and sentences when he says things like that. Thinking about how my heart was pounding in my dream at his touch..."train?"

Oh crap. He said something. "What?" I say to him not looking up from my plate.

"I said, do you want to train after this?" Jonathan says in a very normal voice. Before I know what I am saying, I agree with a shrug of my shoulders and a "Yeah, why not?" that casually slips out of my mouth. He stands up then and walks away. I take this chance to look at his back and he doesn't look the slight bit tense like I am sure I do. He sets his empty plate in the sink and leaves the room without looking back at me. When he is around the corner, I let my head fall to the top of the table in frustration and confusion.

Why is he still flirting with me? He has been doing it a lot lately despite our conversation. Making wildly inappropriate remarks or smiling sexily at me while eyeing my body. Everyone always tells me and my father how pretty I am but I just always chalked that up to them trying to suck up to me and him. Could he really think I am as pretty as Sophie or Ellie?

* * *

We have been training for the past two hours and I can't seem to concentrate. " _AGAIN!_ " I yell at Jonathan. I can't stand it when he pins me over and over again. Usually I can get the better of him a third of the time, but not today. I have too many things running through my head that shouldn't be running through my head. Like watching Jonathan's muscles flex when he moves or thinking about the way he keeps looking at me. I push him off of me in frustration as he smirks down at me. Not to mention the tension between us is almost too thick to breathe through. I am still having the 'inappropriate' feelings and he is certainly not helping with his sexually charged remarks. "What? Do you want to be on top?" he says playfully to me as he hovers over me.

I push off of the floor and shove the hair that has escaped my bun off of my forehead as I glare at Jonathan's shirtless retreating body. I am only wearing a tight shirt and sports bra with tight yoga pants to train in and he is wearing some very low riding black sweat pants that reveal a lot of his perfect body. He walks over to the stereo and turns on Closer by Nine Inch Nails and turns the volume up. I raise my eyebrows at the back of his head in surprise and disbelief while he picks up his water bottle and lifts it up to take a sip as the music starts to play.

You let me violate you.

You let me desecrate you.

You let me pentrate you.

You let me complicate you.

My mouth falls open a little in surprise at the lyrics. Why did he pick this song to play? Just then he turns around as he grabs a white towel and scrubs it down his face and I watch his muscles flex unable to help myself. I mentally slap myself across my face to get a grip as he tosses the towel back on the bench. Dammit, he looks so hot.

Help me! I broke apart my insides.

Help me! I've got no soul to sell.

Help me! The only thing that works for me..

Help me get away from myself.

Jonathan looks up to me then and gives me his sexy crooked smirk.

I wanna fuck you like an animal.

I wanna feel you from the inside.

To my amazement, he actually winks at me after those lyrics and I can't help but grit my teeth and charge at him in half anger and half desire. I tackle him to the ground to try and let out some of my sexual frustration as the song continues.

I wanna fuck you like an animal.

My whole existence is flawed.

You get me closer to God!

He flips me over and then he is hovering over me as he pins my arms to the mat while he straddles me. I wrap my legs around his waist and twist my body so he falls to the right and I roll on top of him. I bare my teeth at him slightly in frustration as he smiles up at me like he is having the time of his life.

You can have my isolation.

You can have the hate that it brings!

You can have my absence of faith.

You can have my everything.

"You know you can have it all, Clary. All of me." Jonathan says lowly to me as I straddle him. "You are the only one who can." His voice is low and sexy and sends shivers down my spine. He bucks his hips hard and flips me over his head to where I land on my back as he moves like lightening to straddle me to the floor. He lowers himself to where his body is just barely touching mine.

Help me! You tear down my reason.

Help me! It's your sex I can smell.

Help me! You make me perfect.

Help me become somebody else!

"I want you, Clary." Jonathan says as his hot breath blows across my face. "I need you. Only _you_ make everything better. We were made for each other. I want you to be my Queen and my Goddess. You are mine and I am yours."

"Jonathan." I say. My voice is barely audible. "This is wrong. We can't. You're my brother." I mean for my voice to hold conviction but instead it just sounds like meaningless words coming out of my mouth recited from a script.

I wanna fuck you like an animal.

I wanna feel you from the inside.

I wanna fuck you like an animal.

My whole existence is flawed.

You get me closer to God!

He smiles knowingly down at me as he sees my resolve breaking down in my eyes. "You know you don't care about that. Our altered blood makes us practically strangers."

"But, Jonathan." I say breathily. I meant it to come out as I protest but instead, it ended up sounding like how a woman would say her lover's name. He is hovering over me, still with my hands pinned to the floor on either side of my head. We are both breathing heavily and my heart is hammering in my chest, and it's not because we are training. It is pounding because I want to kiss him. I want to run my hands down his chest and watch his eyes roll back in his head at my touch. I want his hands all over me no matter if he is technically my brother or not.

My eyes have been locked with his this whole time and then I make the mistake of looking down at his lips. They are full and pouty and parted slightly and I lick my lips as twisted desire runs through me. "Fuck it." I say as I lean up and press my lips to his. He moans a low and throaty moan into my mouth that I have never heard from him before and it sets my insides on fire. I wiggle my wrists to let him know that I want him to let me go and he obliges. I yank them out of his grasp and throw them up and into his sweat soaked hair as I shove my tongue into his mouth.

Our tongues slide against each other in the hottest kiss of my life. His hands are everywhere on me. Jonathan is in between my legs and he slides his hand down and hitches one of my legs to wrap around his waist. I bring the other one up and do the same on the other side of him and he lets out another deep growl in his throat. When he does that, it is like fire in my veins. It is, hands down, the sexiest sound I have ever heard. It lets me know how hungry he is for me and how much he is enjoying this. I wonder if he has dreamt about me the way I have dreamt about him.

I slide my hands around his broad shoulders and dig my fingers into his back, trying to get him to come closer to me. I feel like he can't ever be close enough. He breaks the kiss and I suck in a ragged breath as his mouth moves to kiss my neck. He places hot kisses there and then gently bites the area as I let out a moan of desire. I didn't even know that I liked that.

By this point, I have completely forgotten that he is my brother. The word brother doesn't even cross my mind. Right now he is the man of my dreams. "Jonathan." I moan his name out loud and he grabs my ass. I let out a growl of my own at his forcefulness and he looks up to me, completely taken by surprise. I reach to grab either side of his face and pull his lips back up to mine. We crash together with so much force I am surprised that we didn't bust our lips on each other. I have waited long enough to kiss him and I will wait no longer. I plan on taking full advantage of my loss of self control while I can.

My legs are still wrapped around him when he slowly starts to rise off of the ground, picking me up with him. I wrap my arms around his neck to hold on while never breaking contact with his mouth. He starts walking and I suddenly realize where he is taking me and what is about to happen. I pull back from him and look into his eyes and what I see looking back at me completely erases all of my will power. His eyes are more vulnerable than I have ever seen them before. I can see more brown in them mixed with the darkness of desire that I know is also in mine. I have never seen him look so...human.

He presses me up against the wall next to the door and I bring my hand to his face and place it flat on his cheek. He closes his eyes and leans into it and I suddenly _see_ him. I see his tortured soul that he thinks he doesn't have. I see the constant internal struggle that he is constantly undergoing inside of him and I see that I am his only antidote to it. I can see it now. He really truly loves me and I love him.

My stomach starts to do flips while my heart feels like it is trying to fly out of my chest. This feeling is so all consuming and so new and so...wonderful. I have never felt so alive and so happy than in this moment. His whole body relaxes under my touch and I know that I will never be able to deny the truth again. "I love you." I whisper to him before I can stop myself. His eyes fly open and meet with mine and they are shining. I have never seen his eyes so luminous.

I slowly bring my lips back to his and close my eyes. He kisses me slowly and gently. More gently than I ever thought him capable of. After a few moments, he pulls back and touches my face as I smile at him. "I love you too." he says as he looks into my eyes. "At least I think that is what this feeling is. I only ever feel it when I am alone with you." He runs his fingers down the length of my face. "My heart starts to beat really fast and it feels strange and my stomach feels like it is in knots, but in a good way. All of these feelings are so new to me."

I smile brightly at him as a lone tear escapes my eyes. He catches it with his thumb and wipes it away gently. "You are describing the same thing that I feel and that is love." I lean forward and place a small kiss on his lips and pull back as I rest my forehead against his. "I love you, Jonathan." When I say this, my voice is soft yet firm and leaves no room for doubt.

When I pull my face back to look at him, that is when everything explodes. The look in his eyes sets my insides blazing and I crash my lips back to his. His tongue slides in my mouth and then it is my turn to let out a throaty moan. He seems to love this and pushes off of the wall. He pushes through the doors of the training room with me still clinging to him, and moves faster then I have ever seen him move. Within seconds we are in his room.

He grabs me by my waist and throws me onto his bed. I smile and let out a few short giggles at this and his returning smile is brilliant. I can see the unmasked want in his eyes as he looks at me and I suddenly feel like the most beautiful and most desirable woman in the world.

Jonathan then jumps onto the bed and lands on top of me, bracing himself on either side of my body. I look up at his face so close to mine and feel his body pressed against every plane of mine and think back to the uncountable times that I have dreamt of this. This is _sooo_ much better than any dream.

I pull his face down to mine hungrily and our tongues begin to slide furiously against the other's. By the time we break apart, we are both gasping for air. He sits up a little and grabs my shirt and rips it down the middle. It doesn't surprise me at all that he ripped my shirt off and now he making his way to my yoga pants. He digs his fingers into the stretchy material and then pulls it apart and yanks the material out from under me. It is turning me on so much that he wants me so badly that he is ripping my clothes off of me because pulling them off would take too long.

I have already reached down and untied the drawstring on his pants and he slides them off just leaving his black boxer briefs and a giant bulge where his erection is. My eyes go wide at the site while his grow impossibly hungrier as he looks down at me in my panties and bra. He moves to take them off but I place my hand on his that is reaching down and hold it still. His eyes meet mine in disappointment and confusion until he sees the look on my face.

I look at him sexily as he straddles my hips and I slide up his bed a little to where my legs are now free. I make eye contact with him and hold his eyes to mine as I take my time reaching to the bottom of my sports bra and slowly pull it over my head. His eyes are still on mine but I can see that his breathing has picked up and all he wants to do is look down at me. I release his gaze by looking to where my hands are trailing down my body and reach my underwear. From my peripheral vision I can see that he is staring at my breasts while simultaneously darting his eyes down to where my hands are to watch me pull my panties down my thighs.

I grab the material around my hips and start to inch it down my legs. When they get to my knees, I lean back down onto the bed and look pointedly at him to finish the job. Jonathan slides his hands slowly up each of my legs and grabs onto my panties and pulls them down. When they are gone, his eyes rake my body slowly, lingering on my chest and the apex of my legs as his breathing becomes slightly unsteady. This surprises me greatly because he never does _anything_ unsteadily.

Just as I am about to ask him what he is waiting for after about thirty seconds of him silently appraising me, he pushes my bent knees apart and dives into the space between them. He kisses me roughly and then licks his way down to my breasts. He swirls his tongue around my areola before taking one of my nipples into his mouth. He flicks his tongue over the top of it while he sucks on it and the sensation makes me make a noise somewhere between a sigh and a moan. I throw my hands in his hair and grab fistfuls of it as he continues. His other hand is teasing my other nipple and now it is as pert as my other one. He switches then and does the same thing to the other one which elicits the same reaction from me.

After a minute, I grow impatient and pull his face up to mine using my fistfuls of his hair and angrily crash my lips to his. He growls his approval into my mouth as I slide my legs up his and hook my toes into his boxer briefs. I began to slide them down with my feet but they get stuck on his huge erection. I can feel him smile against my mouth and he lets out a little chuckle as he sits up.

His hands fly to the waistband of his underwear and hurriedly pulls them down. Jonathan's erection pops out and my eyes go big as I lick my lips at the sight. He is definitely larger than what I expected. I have no idea how he is going to put something so big inside of a hole that is so small...but I can't wait for him to try.

He looks up at my face and smiles at the appreciative look I am giving his dick and he dives back onto me. His hand moves in between us and he finds my clit with his finger. I gasp as he starts to move it with precision and within a minute, I am panting and moaning as he watches me with a completely rapt expression. I have never seen his eyes so hungry with pleasure and desire. He moves his lips to my ear and whispers, "Let go." and then takes my right breast into my mouth as I come completely undone by his fingers.

I moan louder than I have ever done touching myself thinking about how fucking good he is. He brought me to climax so quickly and easily and it was the strongest orgasm I have ever had. When the waves of pleasure slowly start to fade, I push him up to an upright position on his knees and curl around myself in a sitting position and pull him into my mouth. He gasps in pleasurable surprise as I slide my mouth up and down his shaft. My tongue teases his tip as he grabs my hair. He pushes my head into him as I slide him into my mouth and I am surprised when I like the feeling of gagging slightly on him. I try to relax the muscles in my throat the next time and succeed in taking all of him into my mouth. He lets out another surprised gasp at this and I bring my hand up to grab the bottom of his shaft and move it with my mouth. He groans sexily and shudders a little and then is pulling me off of him.

Jonathan pushes me down onto the bed and I hold my hand up to halt him. He furrows his brows in confusion as I roll over and open his night stand drawer and grab the stele that I know he keeps in there. I bring it to my hip and draw the barren rune that I came up with only a few months ago and smile when I am done. I look up at his confused face and say, "The Barren rune. It prevents me from getting pregnant." When I say this, his smile blinds me as he falls back on top of me. He claims my mouth with his and I can feel him move his hips to where his erection lines up with my entrance.

For just a moment, a thread of panic runs through me. I am about to lose my virginity and I am afraid that it is going to hurt. Jonathan of course sees this and caresses my face. "Only if you want to." he says softly.

"Believe me, I want to." I say seriously to him which makes him chuckle. "I am just worried that it will hurt. You know that I am still a virgin."

His eyes light up and look hungrily at me when I remind him I am a virgin and I realize that he likes that I am that way. I would have expected him to want a more experienced lover. "It will hurt only at first, but I will take it easily. Then it will feel really good." He smiles at me like he knows some great secret that I don't and I nod my head.

I feel the tip of him press gently against my entrance and nod my head for him to continue. He pushes into me slightly and I feel pressure down there. He slides a little more into me and I close my eyes as the pressure gets stronger and take a deep breath as he reaches a sort of barrier. "I am going to break your hymen now." he says to me with a wicked smile and pushes firmly yet not too swiftly, and I feel a strong pinch. It doesn't hurt as bad as I thought it would and I breathe in through my nose for five counts before he slides all the way in.

When I feel his pelvis touch mine, I look up to his face and see that his eyes are closed gently. The look on his face is pure bliss as he relishes this moment. I know the demon part of him is rejoicing in taking my virginity and that is when I realize that there is no going back now. Jonathan has just taken my virginity. He will forever and always be my first. We have just crossed a line from which there is no return. This fact doesn't upset me like I thought it would. I actually kind of like the thought of it as I look at his blissful face. I smile up at him and he sees this when he opens his eyes.

He starts to pull out slowly to his tip and then cautiously slides back in. It is a little uncomfortable at first but that quickly turns into pleasure as the pain completely fades. His pace picks up and it starts to feel really good in a way that I didn't think was possible. He thrusts after a slight adjustment and I throw my head into the bed as my eyes roll back in my head and I let out a long strangled moan. He stays steady there and soon he is moaning with me. "You feel so fucking good wrapped around my dick, Clary." he says lowly to me and I get even more turned on.

My fingers start to dig into the skin of his arms as a pressure starts to build inside of me. I hear him growl like an animal as I can feel a small amount of blood fill my fingertips and then he increases his pace. I open my eyes in surprise and see that he is looking down at me with the most eager look on his face. His thrusts become faster and harder still and then I can't help it anymore.

A wave of pleasure crashes over me like none other that I have ever had before. I scream/moan out loud enough for it to echo throughout the house as my toes curl painfully hard. It feels like an eternity before the waves of pure pleasure start to slow. When they do, I look back to Jonathan who looks like the happiest person I have ever seen. He is grinning from ear to ear as his eyes darken with bliss. "My angel, that was _so_ hot." he says with conviction to me. "Much better than I thought it would be."

He is still pumping in and out of me, still not having had his release, and I bring my legs up and onto his shoulders. Jonathan is able to push even deeper into me and I watch with satisfaction as his eyes roll to the back of his head. "Cum for me baby." I say seductively to him. He smiles and looks back at me as he sits up slightly.

He pushes my legs to where my knees are next to my head and begins to pound deeply into me. The faster and harder he goes, the more him and I both moan. Within a minute, I can tell that he is close. He thrusts one time slightly to the left and I literally scream in pleasure. When he realizes what he did, he continues to slam into me in that particular spot with renewed fervor. I feel myself starting to climax quickly and I grab Jonathan's arms again. His muscles tense for a moment and then it is his turn to scream. He starts to cum inside of me as I reach my second peak and we come together; our voices mixing with each other's in ecstasy.

After a minute of pleasure, he slows his movement and then pulls out of me. He sits up and watches his cum seep out of me with a twisted smile and then falls onto his bed beside me. He pulls me into him and kisses me passionately for a long thirty seconds before he lets me go. "I am going to have to build up my stamina with you, babe. You are so tight that it is almost unnerving how good it feels to be inside of you."

I roll into him some more and press my bare chest up against his as I reach around behind him and grab his firm ass. He smiles when I do and then falls back onto the bed. "So I didn't disappoint you?" I ask him nervously. His eyes fly open and look to me. "I know that I am not experienced at all and you are and..." The look on his face makes me shut my mouth.

He looks absolutely dumbfounded. "God, no!" he almost shouts. "You were the best I have ever had. Being inside of you felt better than I ever could have imagined sex could feel."

I look shyly up at him silently looking for confirmation. "Really?"

He smiles a sexy crooked smile at me as he closes his eyes and lets his head fall back onto the bed. "You have _no_ idea, Clary. I don't think I could ever fuck anyone else and find pleasure in it now that I have had you."

The conviction in his voice is unwavering and I push myself up and kiss him passionately for a moment. When I pull back, I slide down and tuck myself into the crook of his arm and wrap myself around his perfect body.

* * *

 **They did it!**

 **Btw, this scene will continue in the next chapter. I don't think Jonathan would want to 'claim' her just once.**


	6. Chapter 6

**-Clary**

As I am laying in the crook of Jonathan's arm, I lightly trail my fingers across his chest. He closes his eyes and hums softly in pleasure at the sensation. After a few minutes of this, he rolls back over to face me and I look up into his eyes and I have never seen them look so peaceful and happy. "You have no idea how long I have wanted you." Jonathan says to me.

"Oh really?" I say with a small smile on my lips as I pick up my leg and drape it over his side. "Exactly how long would that be?"

His eyes suddenly shift and it looks like he is remembering something. "It was when I was fifteen, the week before I turned sixteen, and you were fourteen."

My eyes widen with surprise and I lift my head a little to look at him. "That long?!" I say loudly.

He laughs a little and nods his head yes. "It was when I went with Father on that trip to Florence for two and a half weeks. I missed you so much while I was gone and I was so angry because he wouldn't let me call you. When we got back, I remember running through the house looking for you in a rush only to find you gone." His face falls a little at the memory. "I was scared you had run away until I heard a splash from out back. I ran down the stairs and into the back yard and you were coming out of the pool with that black bikini. You had hit puberty the year before but this was the first time that I really noticed you. You looked so beautiful and sexy dripping wet as you walked up the steps of the pool. I was sure I had never seen anything so beautiful. When you saw me, you ran to me and jumped into my arms, soaking my clothes. It is one of my happiest memories. It was the moment that I realized that I _had_ to have you. That you are the only person I could love or would ever love."

I am rendered almost speechless by his words. He has loved me and wanted me for five years. I can't believe how patient he has been. For him, that must have been the hardest thing for him to ever do. I reach up and touch his face and pull my lips to his and kiss him. When I break away from him, he has put his hand on my hip and snakes it around to grab my ass. When he gives it a squeeze, I bite my lip and he looks longingly at me. "And," he says lowly to me, "now that I have you, I am going to do everything to you that I have ever dreamed about doing."

I wave of anticipation and lust washes over me as he rolls on top of me. He kisses me roughly and passionately for a moment and it really puts me in the mood and all I can think about is how he gave me three fucking orgasms and I shudder with desire.

His lips break away from mine and then he is kissing and gently biting down my neck. When he gets to the base, he sucks on the skin for a minute and then pulls back to survey his handiwork and says lowly to himself, "Mine." I am sure there is a hickey there where he visibly marked me as his.

Jonathan continues kissing down my body and teases my breasts before licking the rest of the way down to my clit. When his face gets there, I look down in surprise and he just smiles wickedly at me and then flicks my clit with the tip of his tongue. I gasp and watch as he dives back in with fervor. I let my head fall back onto the bed and close my eyes as I allow myself to fully enjoy the pleasure he is giving me. I can feel his tongue rubbing it as I pant unevenly. I buck my hips as he finds the right spot on my clit and he brings his hand up to push my hips down. I oblige and then I feel him plunge two fingers into me.

I yell out in surprise and pleasure and look down to him with my eyes wide. I prop myself up on my elbows, deciding that I want to watch. I can see him smile a little and then he starts to make a sort of 'come here' motion with the fingers he has in me. He is hitting my g-spot with his fingers while licking my clit. The sensation is overwhelming and almost too much. My body doesn't know which source of stimulation to focus on.

I let my head fall back as I feel myself nearing a peak. He is going to make me come from both spots at the same time. Holy fuck. "Nnngghghh!" I moan out in meaningless sounds. I can't form a coherent word. I briefly think that his ex Sophie was right. He _is_ like a sex god as my body starts to shake with anticipation. I give out and fall back to the bed as I squeeze my eyes shut. I throw my hands down onto the bed and grab a fistful of his sheets as the most unbelievable orgasm of my life takes over my body.

I half grunt/half scream out in unbridled pleasure as both sources of stimulation throb with it's release. I don't know how long it was, it seemed like the most blissful eternity, but after a while, I finally start to come down from my high. I feel like I have just run a marathon. My body is tired and blissed out and I am taking short yet deep breaths as I try to regain my composure.

I open my eyes to see Jonathan starting to sit up and he looks at me with the most seductive smile. "You taste like an angel." he says as he wipes his face with the back of his hand. I let out a short breathy laugh at that and then I feel his hands on my hips. I look down to see his large fully erect dick. I suddenly want him inside of me again like I have never wanted him before. Now that I know what he can do and how good he can make me feel, I am not sure that I will ever be able to allow him to put clothes on again.

I spread my legs for him and raise my hand up and motion my finger back and forth as if to say, 'Come here' and then he is plowing into me none too gently. I yell out in pleasure as he hits the already sensitive spot inside of me. I look into his eyes and I can see that he isn't going to take it so easily with me this time. His eyes are blazing with lust and I can see his need to dominate me.

I look back up at him and try to tell him with my eyes to dominate me and he seems to understand. He gives me his sinister smile that scares everyone else but it just really turns me on. He flips me over onto my hands and knees and pulls me back to him by my hips and then he is slamming into me with force. He grabs my hair and wraps it around his hand and pulls me to him with it. I let my head fall back and begin to meet his thrusts with ones of my own. I am grunting animalistically with pleasure as he lets go of my hair and reaches around and grabs my breasts with both of his hands.

He pulls me up to where I am flush with his back and then begins to push into me again. His hands are running all over my body and I turn my head back to him and he kisses me angrily as he pinches my nipples. I let out a whimpering moan into his mouth as the little bit of pain mixes beautifully with the pleasure he is giving me. After a blissful few minutes of this, he pulls out and I whine at the loss of him. I suddenly feel so empty.

The next thing I know, he throws me over his shoulder and is walking purposefully out of his room. I think about asking him where he is taking me, but think better of it. As we reach the stairs, he sticks a finger in me and begins to play with me. I let out a soft moan as we decend the stairs. When we get to the bottom, he turns left and I instantly know where he is taking me.

He pushes open the doors to Father's office and I can't help but chuckle a little internally. He is going to fuck me in here to spite him. To let him know that he took his precious little girl and 'corrupted' her and defiled her in his most sacred place.

Jonathan walks around to the other side of Father's desk, where he sits, and puts me down on top of it. I am smiling at him sexily as he smiles at the site of me naked on Father's desk. I bite my bottom lip and slowly spread my legs for him in invitation. He growls and then steps into the valley of my legs and pushes roughly into me. I moan at the sensation as he starts to fuck me. He pushes me back to where I am laying on the desk and looks down at me as I moan non-stop while he continues to defile me. His eyes are alight with passion and the look he gets when he wins is all over his face. I smile just a little and then he shifts slightly to the left. I scream out in pleasure as he starts to hit my spot over and over again. Within a minute, I can tell I am close. For fucks sake, he _is_ a sex god! A few more thrusts and then I am scrunching my face together as I scream out Jonathan's name in release.

I hear a rumble of satisfaction in his chest as his hands run all over my body. He never slows down for one second and that makes my orgasm draw out for at least a minute and a half. When I am finally done, my breathing is erratic and I look up at him in amazement. "You...are so...fucking good." I say in pants to him.

He gives me a crooked smile and then pulls out and flips me over. He pulls my hips down until I am standing while the top half of me is face first on top of Father's desk. He has me bent over his desk and I know that this is what he has been imagining for years. I look over my shoulder seductively at him and reach back and rub my ass and pull myself open a little for him. The way he looks at me in response is nothing less than total worship.

He grabs my hips and slams into me. I throw my head back and moan as he holds onto me and pulls me to him. I have to stand on the tips of my toes so he can have access to me while he pushes my chest into the desk. He starts to groan in pleasure and soon enough, his breathing becomes irregular. "Claim me as yours." I say seductively to him and he seems to like that. His chest rumbles a little and then he says, "Your _mine_." in a growl as I feel his dick start to throb inside of me. He shouts out in pleasure as his thrusts become a little erratic. I start to meet his thrusts with my own to help him out and his moans become louder. He cums deep inside of me and as he starts to come down slowly, I move up and down his shaft lazily, milking him for everything he has.

He lets me do this as his breathing returns to normal and then he falls back into Father's chair. I stand up and turn around and reach for one of Father's clean handkerchiefs out of his desk drawer and bring it down to catch Jonathan's cum that is seeping out of me. He smiles widely at the site and I smile back at him. I clean up what I can and then toss it on his desk.

I smile at Jonathan as I step to him and straddle him in the chair. He wraps his arms around me and I wrap my arms around his neck. "Did that make you feel better?" I ask him playfully.

He smiles wickedly at me and says, "Now every time I come in here and look at him sitting at his beloved desk, I will picture fucking you where he is placing his hands." His smile gets bigger at this thought and I just smile and roll my eyes.

"You just _had_ to show him that I am yours now, and not his." I say and he kisses me.

"Exactly." he whispers against my lips and then kisses me some more.

I tuck my legs in between him and the chair and smile at his satisfied face. "You are so hot, Clary. You know exactly what I want to hear without me saying a word."

"I know you too well, Jonathan. I knew what you were doing when you took me on his desk." I smile mischievously at him and he smiles back at me. "I love you and your sick, twisted, and perverted mind." I tell him.

He laughs at my words and then pulls me to him and kisses me passionately. When he pulls back, he palms my breasts and licks my nipples for a minute before looking back up at me. "I love your tits." he says in a sigh. I laugh a little with a huge smile on my face and then hop off of him and stand up. I reach down and grab his hand. "Come on. I need a shower now."

I see the unmistakable glint of desire in his eyes and then he is standing up. I lead him back upstairs and into my bathroom where I turn on the water. As I am waiting for it to heat up, Jonathan and I kiss and slide our hands all over the other's body enjoying being able to do so after such a long build up. When steam starts to rise from behind the glass shower door, he pulls me in and puts me under the water. I am barely able to wash my hair because he can't seem to stop kissing me. When it comes time to wash my body, he tosses my loufa out of the shower and squeezes my body wash into his hands.

Jonathan's hands glide over my body, taking his time to wash every part of me as he stands behind me. I close my eyes and let my head fall back to rest on his shoulder as his fingers slip into my folds. He massages me for a minute before moving on and that is when I feel his erection poking me in my back. I smile and turn around and press my chest against his stomach as he washes my back. I bring my hand up and grab him roughly around his shaft and his eyes light up as he grunts with satisfaction. "You are insatiable." I say to him with a sexy smile and he looks down at me seductively. "I don't know how I will be able to keep up with you." I say back up to him.

He trails his hand up my spine, making me shiver, and fists his hand in my hair. "I have no doubt that I won't be able to keep up with _you_ by the end of the week." he says with a sly smile.

"We'll see about that." I say back and then drop to my knees. His eyes widen with surprise but quickly turn lustful as he sees me on my knees in front of him. I lock eye contact with him as I slowly slide him into my mouth and watch as his eyes fill with pleasurable bliss before they roll to the back of his head. I slide my mouth up and down his shaft slowly while swirling my tongue around his tip when I get to the end. I mentally thank Victoria for all of the times she detailed her sexual encounters because I somewhat know what I am doing now. I suck strongly as I bring my hand up to move up and down with my mouth and I hear a sigh leave his mouth. I speed up my pace and feel him harden even more in my mouth. His hand comes down and grabs my hair but he doesn't push me into him. I relax the muscles in my throat and then take him all of the way into my mouth. He groans with pleasure and I bounce my head faster taking him all of the way every time. "Fuuuuck, baby sister." he moans out and my eyes widen at his words. They completely take me by surprise but I don't slow down. I move faster and faster until his legs are shaking. "Almost..." he says and then he cums in my mouth as I move up and down his throbbing dick. He fills my mouth and when his moans quiet, I pull back and let it fall out of my mouth and onto my chest. I will have to build up to it if he wants me to swallow. Right now, I just can't bring myself to do that.

When I look up at him, he smiles as he watches his cum slide in between my breasts and I see how much he likes that site. The site of _his_ juices on me, marking me as his. I stand up and he brings his hand up and spreads his cum across one of my breasts and flicks my nipple with his finger. "It looks like you will have to wash me again." I say in my most innocent voice and I swear he looks like he just won the lottery when he makes eye contact with me. "I might not be able to control myself around you if you keep up your behavior. You have no idea how much you are turning me on when you do this" he gestures towards his cum all over me, "and talk like you have been. You seem to know what I want and when I want it and I am sure that I will _never_ find the level of pleasure you give me with anyone else...not that I would ever want to try." He gives me a coy smile and I smile back

"Well you certainly know what _you_ are doing." My voice is seductive and filled with the memory of the ecstasy that he gave me.

"I did it all for you." he says as he pushes my wet hair out of my face. "I wanted to be perfect for you. Be able to pleasure you with just one touch."

"Is that what you meant when you said you were just 'practicing' with Sophie?" The memory of our discussion a couple of weeks ago comes back. He just smiles and nods his head in affirmation. "Sophie was just a guinea pig to me." Jonathan says with a shrug of his shoulders. "A way for me to make sure I was ready to be with you."

I shake my head a little in disbelief and a half smile pulls up one corner of my mouth. "I wanted to kill her because I was so jealous of her because she got to be with you."

His brows furrow a little and then he is cupping my face in his hands. "I have only _ever_ wanted you." His eyes are earnest and his voice is filled with undeniable truth. "You have no one to ever be jealous of."

I smile and stand up on the tips of my toes and put my arms around his neck. I pull his face to mine and kiss him as his hands release my face and move down to cup my ass. He gives it a squeeze and I smile against his lips. 'I could definitely get used to this' I think to myself. I no longer care that he is 'technically' my brother. Father tainted our blood so much that we are probably less related than to two strangers walking down the street. I think back to when he called me 'little sister' when I was sucking his dick and it suddenly turns me on. It makes me feel dirty in a good way. I never knew I was a closet 'freak', especially in the sack. I guess we are perfect for each other. We are both messed up in the head and seem to enjoy it.

We spend the rest of the day in bed, fooling around. I draw and he reads like always, except now we are naked, and occasionally kiss. We sleep in my bed and I wake up to him going down on me. He is slow to make me climax, enjoying hearing me moan under him, and then he fucks me into the bed.

Afterwards, I slip on my thin robe, and only that, and let it hang open as we go downstairs to make ourselves breakfast since the staff is gone. I scramble eggs as Jonathan stands behind me and slips his hands into my robe and caresses my body. I have barely been able to keep his hands off of me and vice versa. We are like horny teenagers and I love it.

After breakfast, he takes me on the kitchen island and makes me orgasm _three fucking times!_ I mean, come on?! How does he _do_ that? I am the luckiest woman in the world. Now I know why Sophie vowed to get him back. She didn't want to let him go knowing how good he is in bed. I honestly can't blame her after what he has done to me. If I didn't have iratzes, I would be sore as fuck from having so much mind blowing sex. I smile to myself as we walk over to the couch in the den. We have decided to watch movies all day on the couch. I pick E.T. to be the first one. It was always my favorite as child. I would always say that E.T. looked like a drevak demon and that is probably what he was. Jonathan then picks Resident Evil with Milla Jovovich. He likes to point out what she did wrong and what she should have done. He likes the action of it and how it reminds him of demon hunting.

I excuse myself in the middle of the movie and make us some popcorn. When I go to sit back down in my spot next to Jonathan, he throws back the blanket covering his naked body and pulls me into his lap. I smile as I turn around and straddle him. Of course, things start to progress from there. His fingers move under my robe and he slides it down my arms where it falls to the floor. I feel him grow and then I position myself over him before lowering onto him. He sighs with pleasure as he says, "You are so _amazingly_ tight."

"Only for you, big brother." I say sexily back to him and his eyes darken with desire. He absolutely _LOVES_ that I said that. I am assuming that it turns him on for me to call him big brother while we fuck and I decide to do it more often.

I start to rock my hips back and forth as I grab the back of the couch behind his head use it to pull me into him forcefully. I toss my head back as he leans forward and takes my nipples into his mouth. After a few minutes of me riding him, he picks me up and then carries me to the wall and pushes me against it. He holds me up with his hands and where I thought I would be nervous for him to drop me, I am sure in his ability to hold me up. He pounds into me relentlessly and I dig my fingers into his back leaving eight long scratches the whole length of his back. He growls like a wolf with satisfaction because he likes that I can be 'rough' and then he shifts so he hits my g-spot.

I moan in pleasure as I feel him build me up to my peak. That is when I hear a female's voice call out for Jonathan and it is not mine. Jonathan turns his head around to behind him, never slowing his pace, and I can barely find the will to care that there is someone here with us with the way he is fucking me. I feel his chest vibrate a little in a chuckle as I hear, "Oh my God! You bastard! Who are you fucking now?!"

Holy shit. It's Sophie. What the hell is she doing here. "Oh nnggghmmm." I moan out as he keeps building me up, never breaking stride. I can't see over his shoulder to see her or her face but she sounds angry and hurt. "You already have your dick in someone else! I came here to forgive you for dumping me and I find you fucking some..."

That is all I hear as I scream my release. "Oh...fuuuck!" I shout out as waves of pleasure wash over me. My orgasm lasts ridiculously long and when I come down, I am flushed and panting for air. Jonathan smiles at me mischievously and then lifts me off of him and sets me down. My legs wobble a little and then he is turning me and bending me over the nearby couch. My hair fans over my face as he pushes into me and I moan out my pleasure. "And your not even stopping!" Sophie shouts angrily. "Who is this fucking whore?"

If he didn't have his dick inside of me, I am sure he would have killed her for saying that about me. Instead, he laughs and I look up at her for the first time, pushing my hair out of my face. Her eyes widen with pure shock and then horror and all I can do is smile. "I know you wish you were me right now." I say to her, surprising myself with my forwardness, and I am sure Jonathan too. "But you never will be." To punctuate this, he thrusts into me hard and I moan out in pleasure and my eyes roll to the back of my head.

"Both of you are sick." she says lowly as she starts to take steps backwards towards the front of the house. "Don't you fucking move." Jonathan says threateningly and she halts her retreat hastily. He grabs my hips and pulls me into him. I push myself up to where I am almost standing and he wraps a hand around my throat and pulls my back to his chest. He bends his knees and starts thrusting upward into me as his other hand moves around and rubs my clit. I close my eyes as pleasure overtakes every other sense and I just moan. "Cum in me, big brother." I whisper loudly to him and his thrusts become more focused. After a minute, his breathing changes and then I feel him start to twitch inside of me as he starts to grunt. He cums inside of me as he holds my neck and clit and his thrusts become less controlled. When he is done, he turns my face to him and kisses me passionately as he rubs me and then pulls out.

I remember then that Sophie is here and look up to see her horrified face and I can't help but laugh a little. "Look at her face." I say to Jonathan and he looks back at me like he is about to fall to his knees and worship me. I smile and say, "Love you, babe." and he replies with, "Love you more." and then walks in all his naked glory over to stand in front of Sophie.

She looks like she is about to cry and I can see her shaking a little. "You dumped me for your _SISTER?!_ " she asks sounding like a sad little girl who had her favorite toy taken away. I can see her self esteem plummeting as she realizes that Jonathan would rather have his own sister than her. I feel bad for her for just a second and then I get over it.

"I sure did." he says looking at her in the eyes. "The only reason I _ever_ fucked you was so I could practice for the day I would get to pleasure Clary." He smiles over at me and then looks back to her. " _She_ is the only one I have ever wanted."

"You're sick." she says. He laughs and says, "I know." and then steps even closer to her. His voice drops and becomes low and sinister and he gives her a look that she actually cowers back from. I love when he looks at me like that but apparently it terrifies her. "And you aren't going to tell a soul, are you?" Jonathan says suggestively. Sophie quickly shakes her head no with wide and scared eyes. "Because if you even hinted at what you saw us doing, I will kill you very, very slowly while I kill your family in front of you, one by one. Do you believe me?" Jonathan's voice is on a whole new level of sinister and menacing and she swallows hard. "I believe you." she says in a choked voice. "I won't say anything; ever."

"Good girl." Jonathan says sounding like he is talking to a dog. "Now run along."

Sophie turns and walks hastily out of the house. When we hear the door shut, we both break out in laughter. I fall over the back of the couch and onto the cushions and clutch my stomach as I laugh. "Did you see her face?!" I say as Jonathan lays his body flat against mine on the couch. "It was hilarious." he says as he kisses me.

"I can't believe you made me cum with her here." I say to him when he pulls back.

"I didn't want her presence to ruin the orgasm I was building you up to."

"Well I am glad you didn't stop, I guess. That was a good one." I say and then pull him back down to me.

* * *

The next three days are the most passion and bliss filled days of my life. I don't think I put on clothing at all during the whole time. We end up having sex everywhere. In Father's office three more times, my room, Jonathan's room, three of the bathrooms. The training room, the pool, and even in Father's bed. Not even the stairs were safe.

We wake up in each other's arms the morning of Father's return and I roll into him and pout. "I don't want him to come back today." I say in a whiny voice.

"Me either." Jonathan says and then disappears under the covers. He kisses every inch of me, occasionally biting or sucking on highly private areas that will be covered with underwear, and then reappears by my face. "We should get dressed." he says as he looks over to the clock. "Father said he would be home at ten." I turn my head and see that it is nine. "We still have plenty of time." I say seductively and then we end up having sex on my drawing desk. When we are done, we take a quick shower together and then for the first time in five days, he leaves me alone to go to his room to change. When he is gone, my soul immediately feels the loss of his presence and I find myself wanting to run to him. I miss him already and it has only been a few minutes.

I dress in a form fitting purple dress that reaches my mid thigh and no underwear in case we can sneak away later for a quicky, and put on a little make up before I dry my hair and put soft waves in it. I know Jonathan likes it like that. When I am done, I leave my room and run downstairs to find Jonathan waiting for me in the kitchen. He opens his arms for me and I jump into them. "I missed you." he says right before he brings his lips to mine and shoves his tongue into my mouth. I let out a sigh of satisfaction and he sets me down. "I missed you too." I say to him when he pulls back.

His eyes rake down my body and he raises an eyebrow at my choice of attire. "I wanted to be prepared in case we find a minute alone later." I grab his hand and pull it down to my thigh. I slowly side his hand under my dress and when he feels that I am not wearing any underwear, his eyes darken with lust and I see him twitch in his pants. "You are a naughty, _naughty_ girl." he says lowly and playfully and then pulls me into him. We kiss for a short while before we hear the front door open. He steps away from me and I from him and then Father's butler, George appears.

"What's up, George!" I shout brightly at him and hold my hand up for a high five. His mouth twitches imperceptibly as he tries not to smile and dodges my outstretched hand. "One day, George..." I say to him and shake my head in disapproval.

"Is Father here?" Jonathan asks as he pours himself some water.

"He is only five minutes away, Mr. Morgenstern." he says as he rushes about, preparing the house for his return. George hurries out of the room again and I sneak one more passionate kiss from Jonathan and then go to wait for Father in the foyer. Jonathan joins me and we wait in silence as George joins us. I hear the trotting of horses and know that Father has pulled up out front. George walks over to the door and opens it just as Father steps through. Damn, George is good at his job.

Father looks up and smiles brightly at me and I walk hurriedly over to him, like he expects me to, and give him a big hug. He embraces me and kisses me on the top of my head as his hands come to my shoulders and he pushes me back to arms length. He looks me up and down with a bright smile and says, "You look very beautiful today, Clarissa."

"Thank you, Father." I say with a smile. He looks up to Jonathan and gives him a nod of acknowledgement and Jonathan says, "Hello Father. Are you glad to be back?" I look over my shoulder and smile at him before I look back to Father who has now grabbed both of my hands in an uncommon gesture. "I _am_ glad to be home." he says as he smiles at me. "But I am not alone." My brows instantly furrow in confusion and I look back to Jonathan and see him wearing the same face I am. "I have brought back someone to live here. To complete our family."

My eyes widen at this and I instantly think of Mom. "Is mom with you?" I ask controlling my voice. I don't want to sound too eager. I try to look out of the partially opened door but Father blocks my line of sight. "No, dear. Not yet." he says as he smiles gently. "I have brought another member of our family back to us."

Okay, now I am really confused. Who the hell could he be talking about? I hear Jonathan behind me suck in a surprised breath as I am assuming he has figured it out. I start to turn my head to Jonathan but Father catches my eyes. He leans in and whispers in my ear, "Your first suitor." and I realize that he brought home someone for me to marry. Ugh.

He pulls back and I look at him still slightly confused and then I see blonde hair on a tall and muscular figure step into view behind Father. He looks up and I see that his eyes are the most interesting shade of gold that I have never seen before. His eyes land on Jonathan first and he gives him a tight smile. Then Father steps aside and the man's eyes find me.

One side of his mouth quirks up and his eyes slowly look me up and down and then he steps forward and next to Father. "This is your adoptive brother, Jonathan."

"Jace. I prefer Jace." he says and then reaches out to shake my hand. I extend mine and he takes it gently while he looks directly into my eyes the whole time and winks. I instantly drop my eyes and blush like a damn fool. I can see Father in the corner of my vision smile like a cheshire cat. "Nice to meet you, Clarissa." he says with a deep voice.

I look back up to him and repeat his earlier statement. "Clary. I prefer Clary." and he gives me a sexy crooked smile. Jonathan steps forward then and I pull my hand back from Jace. "So you decided to bring him back." Jonathan says tightly to Father. He looks over at his son and smiles. "I thought it was time to bring him home. Tell him who he really is and who I am."

Jace looks slightly uncomfortable when Father says that and I can tell that he hasn't fully forgiven him for faking his death. I can tell, without even looking at Jonathan, that he already wants to kill Jace if for nothing else other than winking at me. Jonathan moves to stand behind me and puts his hands on the tops of my arms like he always has, and I smile politely up at Jace. I realize that he is maybe an inch taller than Jonathan who is six foot one. Why do all the people around me have to be giants that make me feel like a dwarf?

"Clarissa, why don't you show Jace to the guest room that will now become his. I have some work to get to." Father claps Jace on the shoulder affectionately while he winks at him and the two share a very father/son smile and then he turns and heads for his office. I smile wickedly and turn around and look up at Jonathan. "It looks like Father is going to his... _office_." I raise my brows and look him pointedly in the eyes.

Jonathan looks down at me and smiles knowingly as I am sure he is picturing us fucking on every available surface there was in there. When I look back to Jace, he is looking at me with a tiny smile. "I am assuming that there is some inside joke that I am missing out on?" Jace says as he looks between me and Jonathan.

Jonathan smiles widely and looks at him for the first time without malice and says, "You have _no_ idea." and lets out one short breathy laugh.

"Come on, Jace. Let me show you to your new room." I say and start to walk to the back staircase that leads to the third floor from the den. This could either be really bad, or really good for Jonathan. I want him to have a friend but I know how jealous he was of him when we were little. I stop when I hear only one set of footsteps behind me and turn around to see Jonathan watching me walk away with Jace with a look of consternation on his face. "You coming, Jonathan?" I ask brightly and he slowly smiles at me. "I'm coming." he says and then comes to walk beside me.

* * *

 **I just want to go ahead and say that this is a Clonathan story and not a secret Clace happy ending one.**

 **I also want to say a special thanks to those who always review. , Princess Chloe, Claphael, ReadingIsMyReality, Cecyl2014, and crap, that's all I can remember off the top of my head. If I missed someone, know that I love you and I do notice when you review and I know your 'names'. I will get ya'll next chapter when I can go back and look.**

 **THANK YOU!**


	7. Chapter 7

"So, Jace." I say as I take the first few steps to the third floor, "what made you to decide to come back with Daddy dearest?" I turn my head slightly back to him. He is eye level with me because of his height even though he is a good two or three steps down from me. "I mean, he did kind of abandon you for almost ten years."

I can see his face tighten slightly when I say this. "He is my father. Whether by blood or not, he is the only father I have ever had. I didn't want to _not_ give him a chance to make it up to me." He is trying to sound indifferent when he talks but I can see through the front he has put up. It really bothers him what Father did to him.

I turn back around and keep climbing. "I guess I know how you feel." I say to him trying to sound indifferent also. "I thought my father was dead too. He showed up one day when I was five and said 'Surprise! I'm your daddy!' and then took me away from my mom who had fled from him to hide me. I haven't seen her since."

I hear Jace take a couple of quick steps and then he is on the one behind me as we climb. He leans forward and puts his face beside mine and I turn and look at him a little surprised by his closeness. His face is intrigued and curious and a little incredulous. "You mean, you haven't been here your whole life?"

I shake my head no. "Our mom," I gesture to Jonathan, "ran with me after Father's failed attempt of the uprising. He burned down her parents house and put the skeletons of a man and a little boy in the ashes to make it look like he killed himself and Jonathan. What Father didn't know was that she was pregnant with me at the time." We reach the top floor and I turn right to take him to his room. We are walking slowly and Jace is listening to me very intently. "She ran and hid with the Mortal Cup that she took from him and had me. Father never stopped looking for her and when I was five, he found us in New York."

"You lived in New York?" he asks animatedly.

"Yes. For the first five years of my life. I lived as a mundane until Father showed up on the school playground and dropped the 'daddy' bomb on me." We reach the door then and I turn and face him as I can see Jonathan watching us closely. "He took me from the playground where I met him," I gesture again to Jonathan, "and introduced me to Jonathan who I didn't know existed either and, like I said, I haven't seen her since."

Jace's face has turned a little upset and his brows are furrowed slightly. "That is pretty messed up." he says as he runs his hand through his hair. "That he made her think he killed her son and then he took you from her too."

"Yep." I say popping the 'p' sound. "He is just full of love and forgiveness." My voice is sarcastic and his mouth quirks a little like he wants to smile. "I am assuming that his trip back to New York next week is for the Cup then. He mentioned something about getting the Cup from a former associate when he didn't think I was listening. I thought Father had it all along." Jace says as I reach for the doorknob.

"He's going back next week?" I ask him sounding a little surprised.

"Yeah. He was talking about it with the man that I thought killed him." Jace's face grows a little hard as he says that.

"Which one?" Jonathan asks, speaking for the first time. "Pangborn or Blackwell?"

Jace turns to face him and I can see him size him up just a little. "Pangborn."

Jonathan smiles and then looks at me. "I wonder what Blackwell is up to since his recent 'demotion'." Jonathan uses air quotes when he says demotion and I let out a short laugh. Jace looks back to me looking a little confused and I take pity on him.

"Father tried to pawn me off on Blackwell's son a few weeks ago." I say sounding mad and annoyed. "His slimy son got a little handsy with me only minutes after we met and said some really disgusting things to me. Jonathan almost killed him when he tried to grab me."

"I just pinned him to the wall with his own steak knife instead." Jonathan says with a chuckle. Jace looks back at him and actually smiles a little.

"I had to put one of my sister's boyfriend's in the hospital one time." he says as he turns to face Jonathan. "He thought when she said 'no' that she was really saying 'don't stop' so I pretended to think the same thing as I was beating him with my bare hands. Everytime he said 'no', I just hit him harder the next time. She had to pull me off of him."

Jonathan seems to find this funny and smiles a genuine smile at him. "If Father wasn't there, I would have just killed him."

"I probably would have too." Jace says with a crooked smile.

'Holy shit, they are having a moment' I say to myself surprised yet excited. Maybe they will get along. God, I really hope they will.

I grasp the knob then and swing open the door and Jace turns to see his room. There is a bed on the right wall and his own bathroom on the left wall. There is a large window that opens up to the back yard straight in front of us while the walls are a plain light cream color. "Not bad." Jace says as he steps in the room.

"Wait a minute." I say as I remember his earlier words. "You said 'your sister'."

He turns back around to face me then as he says, "Well, yeah. I was sent to live with the Lightwoods who run the New York Institute when father 'died'." sounding a little bitter. "I was raised alongside with Alec and Isabelle Lightwood. Isabelle is like my sister and Alec, well Alec is my parabatai so I guess he is like more than a brother."

"You have a parabatai?" I ask surprised.

"Yeah." He is standing in the middle of his room as he looks at me and Jonathan standing in his dooway. "I do."

"Father never mentioned that." I say to no one in particular and Jace seems to pick up on that. "What do you mean by that?" he asks as he furrows his brows. He folds his arms across his chest and looks intently at me.

"I mean," I say slowly, annoyed by his now tense and slightly off-putting stance, "that Father never mentioned that to us or wrote it in any of his journals."

Jace narrows his eyes some more at this information and I decide to continue before he starts asking more questions that I know he wants to. "We know pretty much everything about you except where you were and who you were with. Father didn't want us to know that."

"I knew those things." Jonathan says suddenly and I look at him surprised.

"Well apparently he didn't want _me_ to know that." I say looking to Jonathan pointedly. We will have to have a talk about him keeping things from me later. He tries to put on his apologetic look as I stare daggers at him, but it doesn't work on me. I know him too well. "Anyway," I say as I turn my head back to Jace, "we have read endlessly about your childhood from Father's journals and know all about your parents and why he chose to pretend to be Michael Wayland and..."

Jace's hand comes up to rub his brow as he turns around looking upset. "Okay. I get the picture." he says sharply. "You two know all about me and I only just found out everything three days ago."

Okay, now I feel like an ass. I sound like I am rubbing it in his face that I know everything. He is probably still reeling from what little he _has_ found out about. I know when I got here, I felt really overwhelmed and scared and confused. "Sorry." I say to him. "I didn't mean for it to come out the way it probably did. I tend to say and do things without really thinking about it."

Jace turns around then and gives me a small smile. "Yeah. Father told me that about you."

Now it is my turn to be surprised. My brows furrow and I look to Jonathan who looks down to me and just shrugs. "He talked about me?" My voice sounds slightly high pitched and incredulous as I suddenly worry what he might have said.

"He actually talked about the both of you." Jace says and then looks to Jonathan and then back to me. "But he mostly talked about you." He looks pointedly at me and I stand up straight, suddenly feeling really defensive.

"What did he say?" I ask as I step forward into the room. I hear Jonathan push off of the door that he was leaning on and come stand right behind me.

"Not much really." Jace says sounding glad that he is finally controlling the conversation. He is probably thrilled to hold this little bit of power over me and Jonathan when we so clearly had the upper hand just moments ago. He looks to Jonathan then. "He just said that you were the best fighter he had ever seen and that you were harsh and unforgiving."

'Just like Father' I think to myself as Jace turns his head to look at me then. He smiles a little and then says, "And you...he talked a lot about you."

I raise my brows expectantly at him and wait for him to continue. When he doesn't after a few seconds I wave my hand like I want him to go on and say, "And..."

He shrugs his shoulders then and shakes his head a little non-chalantly. "He said that you were impulsive, like me, and that you were kind and understanding."

"So, the opposite of me." Jonathan says. I look up to him and his face is pulled tight by just a fraction and I can tell that what Father said about us bothers him. He rarely has anything good to say about Jonathan other than 'he's the best fighter there is'. I raise my hand and put it on his forearm in a comforting gesture and he looks down at me. "He's wrong." I say quietly yet firmly to him. He smiles just a little at me and then brings his arm up and pulls me into his side by wrapping it around my shoulders. He places a kiss on the top of my head and then lets me go. I look back to Jace who is was watching our exchange and he looks a little wistful. Like he is thinking about something. Maybe he misses his 'sister'.

I give Jace a tight smile and then take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, do you want to get settled before we give you the tour, or do you want it now?"

Jace looks to Jonathan and then back to the room and runs his hand through his hair again. "I think I might take a nap. We have been traveling for a while." I give him a polite smile and think that there is no way that he is going to sleep with everything that is probably running through his head.

"Well, okay." I say as I turn around and walk out into the hall with Jonathan in front of me. "I'll tell George to send up your things." Jace gives me a polite nod and then shuts the door as his eyes rake up and down my body one last time. When the door clicks shut, Jonathan pulls me into the stairwell and drags me down the second floor landing to the back of the house. You can get to our rooms from here by the hallway that wraps around the whole of the second floor. He opens the door to the music room that never gets used, and shuts the door behind him. "What are you doing?" I say to Jonathan. The room is really dark, the only small window covered by heavy maroon drapes.

"He was looking at you." Jonathan says sounding a little angry. I roll my eyes because I know he can see me even though I can only see his silhouette, and let out a little laugh. "And what? Are you going to beat up or kill every man that looks at me? That would be very time consuming." My voice is playful and amused and I smile as I see him coming closer. I can start to make out the whites of his eyes now.

"I would be lying if I said that I hadn't thought about it once or twice." Jonathan's voice is slightly playful as well although he has an undertone of seriousness to it.

"Don't be ridiculous." I say as I take a step closer to Jonathan. I can feel the atmosphere in the room changing a little and I give him a coy smile. "You know that I _only_ want you. I could care less who looks at me and you shouldn't care either because you," I reach out and grab his hand in the dark and bring it to my waist, "are the only one who actually gets to touch me." I push his hand down to my butt and he grabs a handful of it as I press my chest to his stomach. He growls slightly in approval and then it is like a bomb goes off. He picks me up by my ass so fast that I barely register what is going on before I make out the planes of his face that is now right in front of mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and bring my mouth to his angrily as he sets me on top of the grand piano.

His hands slide under my dress and he pushes it up as I reach down and start to unbutton his pants. Our mouths haven't left each other's and his tongue is fighting mine for dominance as I unzip his pants. I slide my hand down his pants and moan at the sensation of being able to touch him as he pulls me to the edge of the piano. My skin sticks a little to the surface as I slide, but I don't care. All I can think about is having him inside of me.

His pants fall to the floor and I position his huge dick at my entrance and then he shoves it in. I moan a little loudly at the wonderful sensation and then I clap one of my hands over my own mouth as Jonathan laughs a little quietly. "I am going to make it so hard for you to be quiet, my little sex siren." As if to punctuate this, he shifts a little and hits my g-spot which he now knows just where it is and how to hit it, and I have to bite my bottom lip hard to keep myself from screaming out in ecstasy. Instead, I make this noise down deep in my throat that I have never made before.

Jonathan then pulls the straps of my dress down and reveals my bare chest to him. I slide my hands under the hem of his shirt and run them along his hard chest. He pulls me to him as he slams into me angrily and I close my eyes and my fingers clench into his skin as immeasurable pleasure runs hard and fast through my body. His head dips down and he takes one of my breasts into his mouth and licks and nibbles my nipple as he continues to thrust possessively into me.

I know that is why he took me in here. He wants to claim me as his again after the way Jace looked at me. He wants to punctuate that I am his and no one elses and that is fine by me. If he wants to fuck me senseless and make me cum till I can barely walk, then by all means, I am going to let him.

He pulls me into him angrily as he grunts with each thrust and I spread my legs further apart so he can go deeper. When he does, I toss my head back as my eyes roll back as well and I let out a little moan. For fuck's sake, he is amazing.

Jonathan is thrusting into me harder and harder, shaking the wires of the piano slightly and filling the room with a slightly ominous quiet hum of noise. I have to bite my lip harder to keep from screaming out as I feel myself building up, higher and higher to a perfect climax as his breathing becomes more ragged. I grab onto his shoulders and pull myself to him. I slam my lips against his and slide my tongue into his mouth as I start to fall off of the peak he has brought me to. I moan loudly into his mouth as the all too familiar now, waves of pleasure wreak havoc in my body making me shudder.

Just as my pleasure starts to crest, Jonathan starts to moan back into my mouth also as he starts to throb and release his cum inside of me. Instead of slowing and becoming less focused, his thrusts get harder and more pointed which draws out my orgasm and seems to have the same effect on him. After a long minute or two, he finally slows and I pull back from his mouth and suck in deep and fast breaths. "That was amazing, Jonathan." I say as my head falls forward to rest on his shoulder.

"It always is with you." he says back to me and I smile. "It seems like my dick was made to fit perfectly inside of my baby sister."

I let out a little breathy laugh at the absurdity of his words. Sometimes I completely forget that he is my brother. "I think so." I say and I hear his chest rumble with approval at my words. He loves when I agree with him about things like that and I can't say that I disagree with him after the way he makes me feel every single time we have sex. "God, I love you." I say ardently as lift my head back up to him. My eyes have adjusted a little and I can now see the blinding smile that spreads across his face. "I love you too, baby sister." he says and then he thrusts into me again. He is still slightly hard and I moan out a little and then hit him in the shoulder playfully.

"Let me down." I say to him trying to sound stern and failing miserably. I sound like I want him to do the exact opposite of let me down and he smiles at that. "I mean it." I say a little more convincingly and he groans and then pulls out of me. "We are going to get caught if we stay in here too long when neither one of us plays an instrument." I reach to the straps of my dress and pull them back on my shoulders and then I hop down off of the piano. Jonathan tucks himself back into his pants while I pull my dress back down my legs.

I run my hands in my hair to smooth it down in case I have 'sex hair' and then Jonathan is wrapping his arms around my waist. "You should where dresses everyday." he says seductively and leans down as I raise up on the tips of my toes and he kisses me. "I think I agree with you." I say when I pull back. As soon as I finish the sentence, Jonathan stiffens and says, "Someone's coming."

Shit. I can't go running out of here because it will look suspicious to run out of a darkened room looking flustered with Jonathan. I briefly consider pretending to learn how to play an instrument but that won't fly either. Neither Jonathan or I know the first thing about music. "Shit." I say looking ridiculous while I spin in circles. Just as I am about to make a run for it, Jonathan shoves his stele at me. Of course! Why didn't I think of that? I hastily draw my super glamour rune and disappear just as the footsteps come to a stop on the other side of the door. I toss Jonathan his stele and he smiles at me and says in a whisper, "It's Jace. I can smell him."

"Be nice!" I say sternly into his ear from where I have come to stand right beside him. "I think you two could be friends."

He looks down at me and somehow finds exactly where my eyes are and says with a surprised look, "Really?" questioningly. The hopeful look on his face almost rips my heart out of my chest. He wants a friend so bad that it literally almost kills me when I remember just how lonely he is. I know I fill a really big hole of that but a guy still needs another guy to be a guy with. Do manly things like talk about 'bangin girls' or writing your name with your pee in the snow. I don't know, whatever it is that guys do while they are alone.

I reach up and cup his cheek with my hand and say, "I really do." meaningfully and give him a quick kiss just as the doorknob start to turn. He was right. It is Jace.

He opens the door wide and light fills the room. He sticks his hand out and flips the switch for the witchlight and the soft bluish light fills the room. His eyes immediately go to Jonathan and he looks a little surprised. "I didn't think anyone would be in here." Jace says as he looks at him. "Father said that neither of you play any instruments."

I look up to Jonathan and he smiles gently and shakes his head. "We don't. I like to come in here sometimes for some quiet. Father never looks for me in here."

Jace nods his head in understanding before he says, "Sorry, man. Didn't mean to intrude." and starts to back out of the room.

"No, man, it's okay." Jonathan says hurriedly. "Come in. I know you play the piano." He moves to the side and out of his line of sight for the piano and gestures to it. "You're not bothering me."

I am so proud of Jonathan in this moment. He seems to be really trying. His face is open and I can see hopefulness in his eyes. I look back to Jace who seems to decide something and then steps further into the room. He leaves the door open and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Do you want me to go so you can play?" Jonathan asks gently and once again, I couldn't be prouder of him.

"Naw, man." Jace says as the air seems to clear somewhat of it's uncomfortable feeling. "I am just doing a little exploring."

"If you want, I can give you a tour." Jonathan sounds friendly and welcoming and I place my hand on his arm to let him know that I think that he is doing really well.

Jace shrugs his shoulders and then gives Jonathan a slight nod and says, "Okay."

The small smile that plays on Jonathan's lips then is one of his 'real' smiles. Not one of the ones he has perfected over the years to fool other people, but one of his genuine smiles. I smile so big in return that my cheeks begin to hurt from the strain of my muscles pulling them up.

Jonathan starts to walk towards the door and I dart in front of him to get out of the room before him so I won't get shut in by Jace, and Jonathan slows just a little to let me pass. Just as I predicted, Jace shuts the door behind him and then looks expectantly at Jonathan.

He points to the left of the door to another door and says, "That is just another bathroom." He turns back to the right of the music room and starts to walk slowly. "Down here is another bed room that barely gets used," he passes the door on the right and continues past the stairs and to the door that leads to the hallway that goes all the way around the second floor. "and this is a hallway that leads to the front part of the second floor." He opens the door and pauses for a second so I can get through before stepping into it. Jace follows closely behind while he looks around slowly, taking everything in. From the large mahogany panels that cover the walls to the paintings of Jonathan, Father and myself that are strategically placed along the wall. We turn a corner and the hallway opens up to our upstairs lounge on the right that barely gets used. It would be a good place for parties if Father would ever let us have any.

"This is where Clary and I hang out if we want to get away from Father for a while. He likes to use the den downstairs if he ever comes out of his office or bedroom so we retreat up here." He stops and lets Jace survey the few couches that are there along with a television and a dartboard that Jonathan totally kills me at when we play. As if he can read my mind, Jonathan smiles a little and points to the dartboard. Jace looks over there while Jonathan says, "I absolutely dominate Clary in darts. She has never won against me. It's quite sad, really, how angry she gets. She is a really sore loser."

I scowl and reach out and poke him hard in the ribs and he smiles a little in my direction. "So am I." Jace says with a slightly amused smile.

"Well that makes the three of us, then." Jonathan says and the two boys share a small chuckle between the two of them. "How about a game later?" Jonathan suggests sounding very friendly.

"Sure. Just don't get too mad when I win."

Jonathan lets out a laugh and smiles. "Sure. Whatever you say."

"Will Clary play with us?" Jace asks as Jonathan starts to walk towards our rooms. I see Jonathan's face tighten a little when he asks this so I reach out and touch his hand to remind him that I am here and he has nothing to worry about.

"We can ask her." he says as we make another turn to see the part of the hallway that our rooms and the front staircase is on. "She is probably in her room." By the tone of his voice I can tell that he wants me to go there and wait for him so I take off as quietly as I can and slip in my door just as they come into view. I grab my stele off of my drawing desk by my door and cancel out the glamour rune. "This is Clary's room." I hear Jonathan say just before I hear him knock.

I stand there for a second before opening the door to make it seem like I was doing something other than waiting for him to knock. "Oh hey, Jonathan," I look to the left and try to look surprised when I see Jace, "and Jace." He smiles crookedly at me and I suddenly realize just _how attractive_ he is. He probably gets whatever girl he wants with the flick of his golden blonde hair. His charms would probably work on me if I wasn't already with Jonathan.

I look expectantly up at Jonathan and he starts to talk. "I am giving Jace a tour of the manor. Would you like to join? We are going to play darts afterwards."

I get an evil smile on my face and say, "I have to warn you, I have been practicing and I think today might be my lucky day."

Jonathan lets out a loud laugh and Jace smiles widely at my words as I step out into the hallway. We turn and go down the stairs and turn left to go to Father's office. Just as I am about to knock on his office door, George steps through with the handkerchief that I used to clean myself up and tossed back on his desk. George is holding it by just a millimeter of the material and looks at Jonathan disapprovingly.

Jonathan on the other hand is grinning from ear to ear at the site. "I am assuming this," George looks pointedly at the handkerchief in his hands like it is the most disgusting demon he has ever seen, "is yours, Mr. Morgenstern?"

"Maybe." Jonathan says with a shrug of his shoulders and a very sly grin on his face. George of course knows it's his and just looks disgustedly at the piece of cloth once more before he walks off to probably throw it away.

Jace seems to catch on then and furrows his brows as a tiny smile pulls at his lips. "Is that..." he looks at George's retreating figure and then back to Jonathan, "what I think it is?"

Jonathan's smile becomes blinding then and he says, "I might have had a girl over while Father was gone and forgot to pick up my mess."

I have to remember not to smile and laugh and pretend to be grossed out by what I just saw. "Ugh, Jonathan. You can be such a pig. Was it Sophie, the blonde bimbo, this time or was it that brunette that you think no one sees when you bring her in?"

He looks over at me and smiles evilly as he says, "It was actually a red-head this time." Jace nods approvingly and replies with, "Not bad." to Jonathan and he turns as they smile at each other. "It's like you had the neapolitan ice cream of women in one week. I did that once." Jace looks thoughtful for a moment before I roll my eyes and say, "Pigs." under my breath and knock on Father's door. Both of them share a little chuckle and then I hear father say, "Come in." and I open the door.

Father looks up and seems really surprised to see the three of us come filing in his office. He takes off his reading glasses and sets them on his desk as he looks pointedly at Jonathan like he has done something wrong. I really, really hate it when he looks at him like that. "We were just showing Jace around." I say and look back to the boys who smile gently at me. "Your office was next so..." I trail off as I gesture around to his office.

"Ah. Yes." Father says and he puts his hands on his desk to stand up. I quickly remember Jonathan fucking me there and I have to turn my head and let my hair fan across my face to hide the blush that is creeping up it and the small smile. "Sorry I had to leave you just after we got here." he says as he approaches Jace with a fond smile on his face. "I had some urgent business that I had to take care of."

Jace shrugs his shoulders again and says, "That's alright. Jonathan and Clary have kept me company."

He raises his brows and looks skeptically at Jonathan and then down to me expectantly. "They have?" he asks with a lilt to his voice. "Yes, we have." I say in response. "We aren't exactly at the point where we have decided to call ourselves the three Musketeers yet, but I think we are close." I try to make my tone playful and I succeed.

"Although," Jonathan says thoughtfully as he brings his hand to his chin to make a show of thinking, "I would definitely be Athos (the most important and head musketeer) while I think you, Clary, would be Aramis (whiny and young) and Jace would be Porthos (loud, brash, and vain)."

"No way." Jace says playfully with a smile on his face. He looks at Jonathan and he smiles back at Jace. "If anyone would be Athos, it would definitely be me."

Jonathan lets out a short bark of a laugh that sounds like a scoff and I step in between the two boys and place my hands on their chests between them and look pointedly between the two of them as they are about to argue fondly amongst each other. "Ahem." I clear my throat and they all look down to me. "I think we all know, and I think Father would agree, that I would one hundred percent be Athos."

Both boys look at me and then slowly look up and to each other and then the unthinkable happens. The both burst out in laughter together and look at me as they laugh. "She thinks she could be Athos!" Jonathan barks out in between his laughing. I fold my arms across my chest and scowl at them.

"She's like the size of a five year old!" Jace barks out and I turn my full offended and angry gaze on Jace as Father places a hand on my shoulder. I look at him to see this look of utter astonishment on his face mixed with what I think is happiness as he looks at Jonathan and Jace while they laugh and make short jokes about me. Jonathan sticks with they usual short jokes while Jace pulls some out of his hat that have me wanting to punch him in the gut. He looks down at me and sees my scowling face. "It's okay, Clary. I can appreciate the _little_ things in life. I don't _overlook_ them because they are so _small_. I'm just saying that a sword is as tall as you are...well, a _short_ sword that is."

Jonathan lets out another round of laughter as I turn my angry scowl on him. He looks down at me, clearly amused by my anger. "What's the matter, Clary? Are you angry because you have a such a _short_ temper?"

"That's it!" I yell loudly and throw my hands in the air in frustration. "I am going to kick both of your asses _RIGHT NOW_ in the training room!" I start to stomp off and hear Father say "Wait!"

I turn around with a scowl on my face and look at Jonathan and Jace who are still smiling widely and then back to Father who is smiling gently. "I think that the two of you owe Clary and apology." I stand up straighter and raise my head to portray the 'Haha, you got in trouble' stance when dad finishes with, "That conversation was a little _over her head_. She seemed to be _reaching_ for decent comebacks and fell _short_."

My anger peaks again as both Jonathan, Jace, and Father all start to laugh uncontrollably. My arms straighten by my side as my hands turn into tightly balled fists. My face turns red with anger and I squint my eyes in a deathly glare at the three of them as they double over with laughter. I am so mad at this point that I can't even form words to angrily shout back at them. Instead I grind my teeth together as I growl unimpressively and throw Father's door open with force and stomp over to the stairs. As I touch my foot to the first stair, I hear Jonathan stifle his laughter long enough to say, "Aw, come on Clary! We were just playing!"

I turn around and glare daggers at him and flip him the bird as I stomp up to my room and then turn to look where I am going. I get into my room quickly and slam my door shut behind me and lock it. I reach down and pull my dress over my head and throw it on the floor as I grab some training clothes. Whether they will fight me or not, I have to go train to get out some of my anger.

As I am pulling my hair back into a tight bun, I allow myself to let go of some of the anger I feel towards Jace because it seems like he just might be the friend Jonathan needs. Maybe he will be a lot like me. My extra angel blood seems to help me temper Jonathan's demon blood and Jace is the same that I am. Maybe they will be drawn together like Jonathan and I are.

I sigh and look into the mirror in my bathroom and allow some hope slip into my eyes. I want this so bad for Jonathan because he needs this so badly. I just need to nudge it along even if that means being the brunt of their mutual jokes giving them something to bond over. I can make Jonathan pay for his little jokes later in my own way. I think I just might be too tired at the end of the day to participate in any 'extra curricular' activities with him.

A smile slowly spreads across my face as I think of the new possibilities of having this sort of power over him. I wonder how long I will be able to resist him or keep him at bay. Thinking to the way he makes my toes curl makes me think I won't be able to hold out for more than a day or two; maybe three at best. I don't think that I have the will power to go longer than that. The way his lips kiss mine. The way they trail down my neck and then onto my breasts. Whenever he touches me softly yet commanding and strong as he slams into me over and over...

I shake my head to dispel the direction my thoughts were taking me. I can't think about that if I am going to make him pay for teasing me so relentlessly. I look down at my skin tight black tank top and yoga pants that are practically a second skin and smile wickedly to myself. Jonathan will be salivating at the mouth with a few sways of my hips and the perfectly timed 'Oops! I dropped something' and then giving him a good view of my ass as I poke it out towards him while I retrieve whatever item I dropped. He won't be able to take his eyes off of me.

I pull down my tank just a little and pull my breasts up to where they are being squeezed out of the top and turn to leave my bathroom when I hear a knock at my door. "What!" I yell angrily and I hear a small chuckle reverberate through the door. "It's me. Open up." Jonathan says like nothing just happened down stairs.

I stomp over to my door and swing it open after adjusting my shirt one last time and find him leaning sexily against my door frame. His muscles in his arms look slightly flexed and I have to slap myself mentally before I can get carried away with thoughts of what he can do to me with his big strong arms. When I look up to his face, he is smiling flirtatiously at me so I give him my most believable glare. When he registers my outfit, his eyes dart from my face and get caught on my chest. I can see lust darken his already dark eyes for a second before I let a small smirk grace my lips. His head starts to come back up to mine so I school my features back into one of anger and annoyance.

"I meant it when I said I was going to kick your and Jace's asses in the training room." I say sharply to him. He seems completely unaffected by my harsh tone or angry glare and looks at me like he wants to rip my clothes off. "Father took Jace outside to show him the garden. We have about fifteen minutes to ourselves, _if_ you know what I mean." His tone is very suggestive and he reaches out a hand to slip it around my waist and I step out of his reach. The look on his face is priceless. He looks up to me with surprise and utter disappointment and undisguised want. I smirk evilly at him and then push him out of my doorway and slam my door behind me. I push past his shocked state of me turning him down (because it hasn't happened yet) and sashay my way to the stairs knowing that he is watching every move I make.

"Be downstairs and ready to lose gracefully in fifteen minutes." I say back to him without turning around. "I am assuming that isn't too much of a _tall_ request?" I smile at my own pathetic joke and jog to the back of the house. I can see father and Jace almost to the back of the garden and I cup my hands around my mouth and yell, "What? Are you running away blondie?" Jace's head shoots up and his eyes find me. He smiles widely at me and his shoulders move back into a stance of pure cockiness. "Are you afraid that you will be embarrassed by getting your ass kicked by a dwarf?"

I can't hear it but I can see his shoulders shake with light laughter before he shouts back, "I don't want to hurt you. You look too fragile to handle me in all of my glory."

Now it is my turn to laugh. I smile widely at his words and laugh hardily at him already dismissing me because of my size. Didn't Father ever teach him to never underestimate your opponent? "I have no doubt that it is _you_ that will not be able to handle _me_." I see one of his eyebrows raise in surprise at my tenacity and I challenge him once more. "So what's it going to be? Are you going to hide out here in the flowers like a little girl or are you going to come and get your ass whooped?" I don't wait for his response because I know that he will come. Even though I have just met him, I can already tell that he doesn't like for his abilities to be questioned. Especially by someone he has deemed to have inferior fighting skills to him.

As I turn and walk towards the training room, I grin wickedly to myself. He has no idea what he is in for.

* * *

 **I know not much happened in this chapter but it was to set up what will happen in the next one. Things are going to pick up quite significantly the next few chapters as Valentine's plan gets underway. Jonathan will be waiting patiently for the right time to get everything he wants and Valentine will be introducing Clary's next suitor. What I am trying to say is, it is going to get better and more complicated for everyone involved. I hope that ya'll enjoy drama cause it's coming!**


	8. Chapter 8

**-Jonathan**

Dammit. She's mad at me. The way she pulled away from me when I reached for her is the first sign. And I know that she wore that tight shirt that squeezes her tits together to torment me. I wanted to just grab her then and take her. I almost did. I know she wouldn't have cared even though she is mad at me. I will have to do some sucking up to her if she is going to let me anywhere near her. That means that I have to do what she wants and what she wants right now, is to let out her anger and frustration out on me and Jace physically.

I walk over to my room and kick my shoes off just as I get inside my door. I grab my training pants and a black wife beater that I know Clary thinks looks sexy on me, and change into them quickly. I can hear her downstairs taunting Jace and I smile at the surprise he is surely in for.

I have read father's journals and know that he is supposed to be a very impressive fighter from what Hodge has reported to him. Hodge says he is the best there is of his generation. I smile to myself because he has never seen me fight or else he wouldn't say that. His extra angel blood makes him quicker and stronger and allows him to do things that normal shadowhunters can't do. But what he doesn't know is that my demon blood mixed with my angel blood makes me stronger and faster than anyone can imagine. Even Jace.

I smile wickedly to myself as thoughts of kicking his ass fill my mind. I have always wanted to fight him to see who would win. To see if his extra angel blood would be able to help him overpower me and my skills. Father has speculated endlessly about who would win between the two of us. He has pretty much come to the conclusion over the past few years that I undoubtedly would win after seeing how well I have developed my skills into adulthood. Clary will certainly be a surprise for him, though. I can already tell that he has pretty much dismissed her as someone who could actually pose a threat to him.

I laugh to myself with a wicked grin on my face. She may be tiny but she is a force of nature. Her blood affords her the same abilities that Jace has plus she has been training with me her whole life. Fighting with me every day has made her into the best fighter I know, besides me, of course. In my sparring or actual fights with other Nephilim or demons, not one entity has put up much of a challenge for me at all. The only person who has put up any sort of a challenge for me is my very own Clary. She is fast and strong and extremely cunning when she fights. When someone is taller and bigger than her (which is pretty much everyone), she makes them come to her and then uses their height against them. She is always either climbing me or sliding down and out of my reach. I absolutely love it. I like that only she can take me down every once and a while. That makes her ten times more attractive in my book. I only want the best by my side as I rule the Clave and she is the best.

I slip my shirt over my head and then I am making my way back out of my room and down the stairs. I make the hard left and then I am facing the direction that I just came from. The short hallway that leads to the training room is just past Father's office on the right but before the kitchen and den at the back of the house. I can already hear the angry music blaring from the stereo in the room. As I get closer, I can also hear the chains rattling from one of the punching bags.

I reach the training room and push the door open to find my little tiger punching and kicking the two hundred pound punching bag that hangs from one of the rafters. She has taped up her knuckles with white tape and is laying into the bag with furious determination. The little line that forms in between her eyebrows when she is concentrating is her most dominant feature right now. Her cheeks are starting to flush with exertion and a few hairs have escaped her tight bun on the top of her head and are framing her face beautifully. I stop and watch her for a minute and revel in the fact that she is all mine. That I am the one that touches her and makes her moan at the top of her lungs. She is the one that leaves scratch marks all down my back and my hands are the ones that bruise her hips from when I pull her into me over and over again.

"You can look at me like that all you want," Clary says suddenly pulling me from my thoughts, "but I still won't take it easy on you." I look up at her amused face and she is smiling cockily at me. She caught me staring at her and she obviously knew what I was thinking about. The knowing smirk on her face lets me know that she knows that she has me wrapped around her finger. I growl internally because she is right. She does have me wrapped tightly around her finger; and whatever else she wants me to wrap myself around.

"I was just thinking that I should pick the music." I say as I step closer to her. She is resting her hands on her hips as she takes deep breaths and a break from hitting the bag relentlessly.

"If it makes you think that that will give you the upper hand when it comes time to fight me, then go ahead. Change it." She throws her arm out and gestures towards the stereo and I smile knowingly at her. Before she can protest, I move quicker than her eyes can follow and pick her up by her ass and pull her mouth to mine. She starts to fight me but I don't let her go and slip my tongue in her mouth. I can feel her starting to lose the battle against her own self control as she starts to relax into me. She rolls her hips into mine and starts to kiss me back furiously. I smile against her mouth and then suddenly drop her to the ground. She looks up at me with a surprised and shocked expression on her face because I am the one who pulled away.

I chuckle a little thinking about how her body is just as addicted to mine as mine is to hers. She probably thinks she will be able to hold out on me for longer than a day. Clary's features then turn into a glare as she realizes this and pulls her arm back like she is going to punch me. I know she is furious with herself and her lack of control and not being able to deny me and she snaps her fist forward. I laugh a little louder as I easily dodge her fist and make my way over to the stereo where I plug up my mp3 player. I flip through my more obscure music and find exactly what I am looking for. I know she has never heard this song before, along with most people, but I heard it one day and thought the lyrics were quite fitting for my situation with my baby sister.

I click on Touch Me I'm Sick by Mudhoney and hit play. The early punk rock sound of the music starts to fill the room and I smile mischievously at Clary. Her brows are furrowed together in confusion as she listens to the unfamiliar song.

 _I feel bad, and I've felt worse_

 _I'm a creep, yeah, I'm a jerk_

 _Come on! **Touch me, I'm sick!**_

Her eyes narrow at me as she listens to the lyrics and I just smirk with one side of my mouth as I start to tape up my knuckles.

 _I won't live long and I'm full of rot_

 _Gonna give you, girl, everything I got_

 ** _Touch me, I'm sick!_**

 ** _Touch me, I'm sick!_**

"You and your highly suggestive songs need to take it down a notch." Clary says over the music as she walks towards me. I throw my head back and laugh at her words and the amusement that is in her eyes.

 _I'm diseased, I don't mind_

 _I'll make you love me, till the day you die_

 _Come on! Touch me, I'm sick!_

 ** _Fuck me, I'm sick!_**

"I have no idea what you are talking about, babe." I say innocently back to her with an almost equally innocent smile. She adorably narrows her eyes at me and is about to lunge for me when the door swings open. We both turn and look at Jace in training clothes followed closely by Father with one of his journals in hand. I smile and scoff to myself as I see this. Of course he is going to use Clary's revenge fighting as a chance to study us in action with Jace. I know he is excited to see how he and I handle each other and how Clary measures up to him because of their same blood. He will probably be curious to see if Clary's training with me and him will make her superior to Jace since he didn't get to train him for the past ten years. I already know the answer to this is yes, but he is surely doubting her abilities to those of his golden angel boy.

Clary turns to face him and his face lights up as she smiles at him and says, "I thought I had you running for the hills for a second there." Her tone is playful and light and his smile turns a little cocky as he looks her up and down. Fuck, I hate it when he looks at her like that. It makes me want to run him through with a blade. I have to focus on Clary then as thoughts of grabbing a throwing knife and letting it go towards his face dominate my mind. I have to remember that I can't go and kill every man that looks at her like that. She is beautiful and there will always be someone eyeing her. I have to remind myself that she is mine. That she only wants me and I am the _only_ one who gets to fuck her.

"In your dreams, short stack." he replies with a light chuckle.

"The only dreams I will be having about you are the memories of kicking your ass over and over again as you look up at me from the mat." She puts her hands on her hips and pops one out to one side and I can't help but notice how awesome her ass looks when she does that. I quickly pull my eyes away from it and see Jace smiling at her as she starts to walk to the middle of the mat. "Do you need to stretch, blondie? Or are you ready to have your ass handed to you now?"

"You seem to mention my ass quite a bit, short stack." Jace quips back at her. "Have you already developed an obsession with it? I know it is glorious."

She tosses her head back and lets out a scoff and then laughter. "Wow." she states with exaggeration. "I am surprised that you fit through the door with an ego as big as yours. How is it that you are still able to stand upright with the weight of that giant head on your shoulders?"

"With my giant muscles, of course." Jace replies and then he flexes his whole body and I see his muscles roll under his very tight shirt.

He smirks flirtatiously at her and she rolls her eyes heavily and turns to go to the mat. When he smiles at her, I get the urge to kill him again. I have to remind myself for the thousandth time that Clary wants me to be friends with him. He really isn't that bad, so far, besides shamelessly flirting with Clary and looking at her. I like him better than most of the other 'friends' that I have had. I like his cockiness and smart-aleck responses. They entertain me.

"Come on, pretty boy." Clary says sharply. "It's time for your first helping of humble pie today."

"Whatever you say, short stack." Jace replies as he steps forward and gets into his fighting stance. The look on Clary's face as she looks at her opponent is excited and I can see the gleam in her eye at a new challenge. She so rarely gets to fight anyone else and I am sure she is as giddy as a school girl on the inside right now.

I look over to Jace and see that he is a little more relaxed than he should be and I chuckle a little. I glance over to Father who is in his 'observation chair' and he is watching with such intensity and unguarded curiosity. I know the he is salivating on the inside while waiting to see how the two angel kids fight together.

I look back to Clary just in time to see Jace make the first move. He lunges at Clary and jabs at her. She smirks in that fraction of a second and shifts slightly out of the way and catches his outstretched arm and grabs his wrist. He tries to pull back but her grip is too tight, much to his surprise, and she uses his closeness and inability to get away to land a few quick and pointed jabs to his ribs and stomach. Her leg comes up and kicks him in the stomach and he stumbles backwards for a second and then rights himself.

He looks back up to her where she is now standing a few feet away and I can see the shock on his face. She is quicker and stronger and more skilled than he thought she would be. His eyes are slightly widened and there is a little smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. It is almost like he is seeing her for the first time. What he doesn't know is that she was just playing with him.

Clary takes off as he stares at her dumbfounded and within a millisecond, she is on him. He deftly dodges her first punch but she catches him with her other fist under his chin. His head rocks back and I chuckle a little at the site of his pretty head getting smacked around by my girl. She pulls her fist back to land another punch but he catches it before it can make contact with him again. He grabs her by the wrist and she kicks one of her legs upward towards his stomach. The grin that I already have on my face gets wider. She has pulled this move on me too many times to count. Jace isn't going to know what hit him in about 2 seconds.

He dodges her leg that has very flexibly come up to kick him, but this is exactly what she wants him to do. With his lower half pushed backwards to escape her kick, it puts him off balance. She jerks the wrist that he is holding forward and he stumbles forward two steps with his knees bent. Clary uses his bent knee to step on and she swings her other leg around and literally climbs up his back while twisting her wrist out of his hand. Within one second, she is perched on top of him and tucks one of her feet under his chin. He reaches up to grab her with a look of pure shock on his face. I am sure that he has never been climbed by someone before. Just as his hands touch her skin, she throws herself forward into a roll, squeezing her feet together; one under his chin and the other on the back of his neck while she perches on his shoulders. He flips over against his will and lands on his back with a smack after a very ungraceful flip with Clary still above him on the floor with an imaginary knife to his throat.

"So how does it taste?" Clary asks him smugly.

He pulls himself from his shocked state of embarrassing defeat and turns his head up to look at her. "What?" Jace asks incredulously.

"Humble pie, of course."

Instead of getting angry, he actually looks thrilled. That is when I realize that his head is in between Clary's legs and I tense a little. As if she can sense my discomfort, she swiftly stands up extracting herself from him and steps away with a huge smug grin on her face. He stands up to and turns to face her with a look of what I am assuming is adoration and appreciation and his eyes start to shine. "It's a little bitter, but nothing I can't stomach." Jace replies with a smirk on his lips.

That fucker likes her. It's all over his face. I can't blame him but he needs to cut that shit out if he wants to keep living. She is amazing and beautiful and an impressive fighter and all mine. I start to walk towards them on the mat with my fake amused smile and Clary turns to see me approach. Her smug smile falters when she sees my fake smile and the little line of worry forms in between her brows. "When do I get my turn to play with the new toy?" I ask playfully as I look from Clary to Jace.

He tears his eyes off of her with some effort and smirks up to me. "I wouldn't mind another shot at Clary." he says and looks back to her. She looks back to me and I can see the worry in her eyes as she looks at my face. I am sure she can see the underlying anger in my expression and it is causes her to worry. "You don't mind if I have a turn do you?" I ask her and she purses her lips infinitesimally at me and then steps away from him and walks up to me as I slowly approach.

When we reach each other, she speaks below a whisper, knowing my heightened senses will hear her while no one else will. "You can't kill everyone who looks at me, Jonathan. I am still yours." she says and looks pleadingly up at me. I take a deep breath and look into her bright green eyes and I calm down just a little. She is the only one who can do that to me; calm me down with one look.

With her reassurance that she is mine, I look up to Jace again and my anger subsides by half. I know that there is no way that he is better than me in _any_ aspect of his being and I give him a friendly and lighthearted smile. "Come on, Jace. Are you really that eager to eat another piece of her humble pie?"

"I wasn't planning on eating any more today. One slice is enough." he says jokingly and looks back to Clary who has turned to face him as she stands next to me.

"Tell me about it." I say with a knowing air. "I have had one too many pieces of her pie." I smirk down at her and raise one of eyebrows and she looks up at me and seemingly catches the double meaning of my words and punches me in the side as she says, "Don't break him." and then starts to walk backwards. He looks up to me and I get the euphoric feeling that I feel before a fight. It is like adrenaline and it sharpens all of my senses. I am addicted to the racing of my blood even though my heart beats remain steady and even during the most challenging of fights. I guess it is a side effect of my demon blood.

"Alright. If you insist." Jace says and I can see him take on a slightly more serious attitude. That is very wise of him. He _should_ take me seriously. He should also learn to be afraid of me which is what I intend to teach him right now.

* * *

 **-Clary**

Shit. This isn't good. The look on Jonathan's face when he saw Jace looking at me after our sparring match is not a comforting sight. I could easily tell that he wanted to kill him. Jace was obviously flirting with me but I don't think that says much. I think he is the kind of guy who flirts with every girl he comes in contact with. I am sure most women usually bend over backwards at his every whim ninety percent of the time. Unluckily for him, I am not most women. I might have fallen for his sexy smile and flirtatious banter once upon a time, but not now. Hell, I probably would have fallen for it a week ago because I was searching desperately for something to distract me from the feelings I had for Jonathan. But not now. Not now that I have Jonathan the way I do. He is everything I need and want and he has nothing to worry about with Jace. Now, if I could only convince him of that, he hopefully wouldn't feel the need to kill him.

I look to Father with worry in my eyes but he doesn't spare me a glance. His eyes are trained on Jonathan and Jace with his pencil ready. He was scribbling in it furiously after I kicked Jace's ass. I know he has been waiting for this day for a very long time. His two sons, one strengthened by extra angel blood and the other strengthened by demon blood, battling each other to see which is dominant. Father could care less about the actual physical well being of his sons as long as he got whatever information he wanted from their sparring.

I turn my head back to the boys and see that Jace has gone into full concentration mode. He obviously has sensed that Jonathan will be a worthy opponent and is on high alert. Good. He will need to be.

Jonathan on the other hand is more relaxed than usual. I can tell it is somewhat of a show that he is putting on for Jace. He is sizing him up as he smiles lazily at him and rolls his neck as if to stretch the muscles. "Don't worry, Jace." Jonathan says with a placating voice. "I will go easy on you the first time."

Jace smirks at him and says "No need for that. I am sure that I can handle whatever you throw at me."

"Isn't that what you said about Clary?" he replies with a smirk and gestures to the side of him at me. Jace spares me one quick and appreciative glance before returning his eyes back to Jonathan.

"I wasn't expecting her to be a monkey. I don't think that I have ever been climbed like I was a tree."

I let out a quick laugh and Jonathan sets his feet into his fighting stance. "That is because you underestimated her just like you have probably underestimated me."

"I wouldn't do you the dishonor." Jace says with mock hurt and Jonathan smiles widely at him. The atmosphere quickly changes between them and turns very serious. What happens next can only be described as total domination. Jonathan has Jace pinned within seconds after he lands some very pointed and forceful blows to Jace that surely have his head spinning. He stands up a little surprised at how strong and fast Jonathan is and turns to face him with new eyes. "I have never seen anyone move so fast." Jace says a little bitterly.

Jonathan who is smirking at him replies with a shrug and an offer to go again. Jace, of course, accepts clearly wanting to redeem himself and shakes his head to regain his focus. Father who had begun to write furiously stops and looks up with hungry eyes to watch them spar again. Jace waits for Jonathan to make the first move this time and is able to hold him off for about thirty seconds until Jonathan is able to hold up his dummy knife and 'stab' him in the gut. Jace was on the defensive the entire time and never managed to land one blow to my brother.

This pattern goes on for another thirty minutes. Jace can never get the upper hand on Jonathan and it always ends up with Jonathan smiling victoriously down at Jace. Jace's face keeps changing from anger and frustration at losing over and over again to appreciation at Jonathan's skills. I don't think he knows if he hates him or not for kicking his ass over and over again or just wants to high five him for being so good. Jace clearly hasn't lost many fights and is struggling with losing over and over again to Jonathan. I will give him one compliment though. He is learning Jonathan's moves quickly and is slightly better every time they fight than the time before. I think given some time, he might be close to Jonathan's level of ability one day. I certainly don't think he will ever be as good as him though. It's just not possible with his perfect compliment of angel versus demon blood. It makes him too fast and too strong for anyone one person to be able to beat.

This last sparring match between them has left Jace with a slight limp. He is trying to shake it off like it doesn't bother him, but every time he takes a step, his face tightens just a tiny bit. I pull my stele out of the waistband of my yoga pants and I walk over to the boys. "You look like you need an iratze." I say as I approach them.

"I'm fine. Just a little scratch." Jace says as he shrugs his shoulders. I roll my eyes and step over to him after a quick glare at Jonathan. I know he is enjoying seeing him hurt. "Don't be such a stubborn male." I say sourly as I grab his wrist. I bring the stele to his skin and draw the iratze and let go of him the moment it is done. I turn around to walk back over to where I have been standing and blow a quick kiss at Jonathan and wink as my back is to Father and Jace. His eyes tell me that that is what he wanted from me. For me to validate that I still want him and that I am still his. I can see the way Jace looks at me and his flirting is out of control. Jonathan will need me to reassure him until Jace decides to move on to try and conquer his next lady after his infatuation with me passes.

"Alright, boys." I hear Father say from his chair. I stop and turn around to see him standing and tucking his journal under his arm. "That is enough for today. I have business to attend to." He looks over to me then. "Clarissa, I need you to be in my office in one hour to discuss some business."

I furrow my brows slightly in confusion. He has never involved me in his business before. "Business?" I say back at him curiously.

"Yes, business." Father says with slight emphasis. "I think it is about time that you join your brother and I in the day to day workings of Raziel's circle."

"Okay." I say back to him sounding a little stunned. He just moves to the door that leads to his office and disappears through it.

"I bet he wants you to go with him to New York." Jonathan says. His voice is closer than I expected it to be and I turn to find him right next to me. "Why do you say that?" I ask him as he rakes a towel down his face to wipe away the light sweat he has worked up. "Think about it. He wants the Mortal Cup, which Jocelyn has and is going back to New York, where she is. The best way for him to get his hands on it is to send you in to get it. Use her feelings towards you to soften her up."

Once Jonathan says it, I know that that must be Father's plan. Jace saying that he is going back to New York next week and then him dropping hints left and right that he is close to taking over the Clave. The thought of seeing mom begins to fill me with horror and excitement at the same time. I haven't seen her in thriteen years. Next month it will be fourteen and I have no idea how she feels about me. I mean, I have been an adult for a while now and I could have easily left at many points over the years and come to find her, but I didn't. I maybe thought about it a few times but I have never entertained the idea for very long. I don't exactly know why, but I just haven't.

I have been here with Jonathan and Father for so long that _this_ feels like home. Him and Jonathan feel like my family. Mom, on the other hand, is a memory. I remember very little about her. I know that she had the same color of hair as me and that Father, on very rare occasions, says that I look exactly like her now. She took me finger painting one time at a kids art studio and I remember her pushing me on a swing once. The only other memory I have of her is her hugging me tightly as she tells me she loves me the day that Father took me. I remember everything about that day. You know how when something big happens or you get life changing news one day, how the events of that entire day are forever cemented in your memory? That is what that day is now. Just one long memory. She seems less real to me than Father and Jonathan. I also know what I am getting with them. I know how our relationship works. With mom, I have no idea how she would feel about me and how we could develop a relatively normal mother daughter relationship. Mom is just one big question mark and maybe that is why I have chosen to remain here with Father and Jonathan. Fear of the unknown.

"Clary!" Jonathan shouts at me as he grabs me on the tops of my arms and shakes me gently. I snap out of my daze and look up to see his slightly concerned face looking worriedly down at me. "Are you okay?" he asks once he is satisfied that I am listening to him.

"Yeah." I say weakly back to him. "I am not sure I am ready to see mom again. I don't know why but the thought of it scares me a little."

Jonathan wraps his arms around me and pulls me to his chest in a comforting hug. "I didn't mean to bring it up like that." Jonathan says into my hair. "Maybe I am wrong."

"That's the thing, Jonathan. I don't think you are." My voice is quiet and slightly muffled by his chest. "What you said makes perfect sense."

"I can go with you." he offers as he lets go and steps back just a little. I can see Jace from the corner of my vision watching us from the side of the room. "I would like that." I say in reply. I really want to kiss him right now and feel his arms around me but stupid Jace is over there watching us. "I love you." I whisper to him instead and he smiles gently at me. "I love you too." he replies lowly to me and then pulls me in for another quick hug and releases me.

I look over to Jace shyly and offer him a tight smile as he looks on with curiosity. "I am going to go change out of this." I say in my normal speaking voice to Jonathan so that Jace will hear also. I turn and leave the room while I feel two pairs of eyes boring into my back. I go up to my room and change back into the dress I was wearing earlier and then go over to my drawing chair with my private sketchbook. I curl up in the chair and prop it up on my knees and begin to draw. The first thing I draw is long flowing lines of hair blowing in the wind. Next is the soft slope of a nose and the almond shape of eyes. The mouth is a little harder to draw as I was always looking at her bright green eyes that are so much like mine. Her face comes to a point at her chin that is prominent yet still small and feminine.

I look up to my door when I hear someone knock. I hop up out of my chair with my sketchbook in hand and hurry over to the door. It must be Jonathan. I am surprised to find Jace standing there when I open the door and quickly pull my sketchbook behind my back with one hand. He looks down at my hand behind my back curiously but doesn't ask me about it. "Yes?" I say in a slightly high pitched voice. I am still somewhat shocked that he is standing in front of me. His hair is slightly damp indicating that he took a shower after getting his ass handed to him by Jonathan. I can smell his body wash and I lean slightly forward to smell it with my next breath. It is very manly. I like it. I will have to see if Jonathan will try it. He has also put on a new set of clothing. When he came here, he was wearing a black shirt and now he is wearing a tight white one that allows me to see the dark marks that are all over his chest and the muscles underneath them.

"I see that it has been almost an hour and I was wondering if you wanted to walk down to Father's office with me? He asked me to come down with you about thirty minutes ago." He offers this as an explanation and I glance over his shoulder at Jonathan's room down the hall and on the other side of the stairs from me before I look back to Jace's waiting face. "Sure. Just let me slip on my shoes." I shut the door and hurry over to my hiding place and set down my sketchbook before sliding on some sandals. When I open my door, Jace is waiting at the top of the stairs for me. I shut my door behind me and give him a small smile as my nerves start to take off. I am sure that whatever Father wants to discuss with me is not something that I will like.

"I am assuming that you don't want to go to New York next week with Father?" Jace asks as I reach the top step and he starts to descend them right beside me. I look over to him and see that his face is more open than it has been since he got here. His features are more relaxed and his eyes are less guarded than when he is around Jonathan and dad.

"Not really." I say to him a little glumly. "I am nervous that he will ask me to see my mother."

"I thought that that would be a good thing for you." he offers. "You sounded bitter when you were talking about how you haven't seen her in thirteen years earlier."

I look away from him as we reach the halfway mark of the stairs and watch where I am going as I slowly let out a huff of air. "I _am_ bitter. It's just that I am nervous about the thought of seeing her again _because_ it has been thirteen years. I don't know her at all and she doesn't know me. I don't even know if she will accept me because I have been raised by Valentine. She hates him more than anything and I have been with him this whole time. Not to mention that I have been old enough to decide to see her for a few years and I haven't because I am scared."

Jace is quiet for a second and I look over to his face again. His expression is serious and thoughtful before he replies. "I understand your concerns but I don't think you should let that hold you back." He looks over to me as we reach the bottom of the stairs and we start to turn left towards Father's office. "Don't you want to give your relationship a chance, even if it is really weird and awkward at first?"

I am pretty sure that I do but I am really worried about rejection. I don't know if I would handle it well if she rejected me because of me being raised by Father. I think it would break my heart if she did. I know that I absolutely loved my mom when I was five and that she loved me. It's just a question of if that love between us will be enough to survive Valentine.

I look up to see that we are at Father's office door and look to Jace who is watching me with concern on his face. I realize then that my face is scrunched together in deep thought and I quickly smooth out the lines of my face to the mask that I show Father. "Are you okay? Did I say something to upset you?" Jace asks lowly.

I quickly shake my head no and tell him I am fine then raise my hand up and knock three times on Father's door. We hear a muffled 'come in' and then Jace is opening the door for me. When my eyes look down to the other side of the room, I see that he is studiously closing a bunch of his journals that he had spread across his desk. He looks up to us and smiles widely as I hear Jace shut the door behind us.

"Come in and sit down." Father says with a gesture to the two winged back leather chairs in front of his desk. I sit in the one on the right, like I always have, and Jace sits in the one on the left that is usually reserved for Jonathan. "I am glad to see that you two seem to be getting along well." he says as he sits back down in his chair. I glance over at Jace who is looking full on at me and then quickly back to Father. "I guess we are." I say unsurely and Father just smiles at me. What the hell is up with all of his smiling today? The man barely ever cracks a grin.

"As you know, Clary," he starts out in his most fatherly voice, "your mother has the Mortal Cup. She stole it from me when she ran with you and I want it back." I nod my head in understanding because he has said this thousands of times. "I think that if you were to go, you could get it from your mother for me. Find out where she is hiding it and then bring it to me."

Fuck, shit, damn, shit, shit, shit. The string of expletives continue in my head for a few seconds while I freak out mentally. Jonathan was right. He wants me to go and see mom again. Not just see her, but somehow convince her to give me the one thing she wanted to keep from him. The thing that she would be willing to die for so he could never get his hands on it again. Before I realize it, I am shaking my head no. "But, Father. I don't think I can do that." I say in a slightly panicked voice. "She probably hates me. There is no way I can convince her to tell me where it is. She won't do it." I know I am rambling and Father hates it when I ramble. I close my mouth quickly and bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from talking again.

Father leans forward and looks to me with the fake face he makes when he wants me to think that he sympathizes with me. "I know that you probably don't want to see her, but she will just try to kill me if I were to show up. You, on the other hand, I am fairly sure that she will at least want to talk with you for a while. Find out how you are doing. That is when you will convince her that you have left my side. That you came to find her after all of these years."

"But Father..." I reply with my voice a little shaky. I suddenly feel a hand on my arm and look over to Jace. He looks back at me with concern. I must look how I feel on the inside. Utterly scared and on the verge of a panic attack. His worried face brings me out of my own head and I look back to Father. "I don't think..."

He cuts me off then and I can see the tension from his frustration and anger building in his face. "Yes, you can, Clarissa." he says a little too sharply to be considered fatherly encouragement. "You have been wanting to be more involved and get out more and here is your chance. You are the only one who can do this."

"But how?" I ask in a meek voice.

"I have faith in you." Father replies sternly as he leans back in his chair. His words are more of a warning than encouragement and I suddenly remember why I have come to loathe him. He doesn't love me or Jonathan. He only loves what we can do for him.

"I don't understand. What does this have to do with me?" Jace asks looking at Father with a stern yet curious look on his face. He pulls his hand back that he placed on my arm and I am grateful for that.

"I was getting there." he says as he crosses his legs. "I want you to go with her and pose as her boyfriend."

This gets my attention. I jerk my head up and look at him with wide and shocked eyes. "What?!" I almost shout at him. Jonathan is _not_ going to like this.

"Your story of how you ran away will be more believable if you fell in love and your boyfriend is the one who convinced you of your Father's horrible ways," he makes air quotes when he says 'horrible ways' like he thinks that his ideas are anything other than horrible. "and so you left to be with him. You can tell her that I wouldn't approve of the relationship and how you just wanted to be happy, etcetera, etcetera."

I see Jace lean forward to the edge of his chair then with a very concerned look on his face. I could feel his eyes on me as I was freaking out internally while Father talked. "But Father, we only just met. How could we convince her that we are desperately in love? Especially when my longest relationship has only lasted two weeks and I am pretty sure Clary here," he gestures towards me with his thumb, "has never been in any sort of relationship with as overprotective and secretive as you are."

"I am giving the two of you five days to get to know one another and to become a convincing couple. That is more than enough time." Father's tone has changed completely now. Gone are the pretenses that he actually cares how I am feeling and now his voice is full of unquestionable authority. I close my mouth tightly and clench my jaw as I look at him angrily. If I can't tell him how mad I am and how much I don't want to do this with words, then he will feel it in my full intense gaze.

I can see Jace from my peripheral vision do almost the exact same thing and he goes quiet as well. "Well, I suggest the two of you get to it." Father says with a dismissive tone. I stand up quickly and turn to walk swiftly out of his office. I can feel Jace hot on my heels so when I push through the door, I leave it open for him to pass through. I am on the second step of the staircase when I hear Jace call my name worriedly. I don't even turn to look at him and keep climbing up the stairs. All I want to do right now is to climb into Jonathan's arms.

I turn right when I reach the top of the stairs and Jonathan swings the door open for me. I am sure that he heard me coming. When he sees my face, which is on the verge of angry tears, he instantly becomes mad. "What's wrong?" he demands in a harsh voice. "What did Father want?"

I push into his room and he shuts the door behind me. Once I see that he locks it, I wrap my arms around his torso and let the angry and frustrated tears start to fall from my face. He brings his arms up and around me and I just know that he is dying for an answer to his questions. Thankfully, he knows me better than anyone and knows that I will tell him when I calm down. I feel like if I were to open my mouth right now and start to tell him why I am upset that I would just wail as I cried. He knows this so he is just content to hold me right now like I need him to.

I probably stay like that for a good five minutes before I make my angry tears stop. I wipe away the last one and look up to see Jonathan trying to look sympathetic. Instead, his face looks more angry than anything. He probably really wants to hurt whoever made me cry. For some reason, I find that to be very sweet.

"I'm sorry I just barged in here and cried like that. I am just so angry right now with father." I tell him as his hands come up to cup my face.

"What did he want?" Jonathan says in a clipped voice. I am a little afraid to tell him what Father wants me to do and who he wants me to do it with. I don't want him to lose his cool and kill Jace or Father just yet. That wouldn't be very productive for what he wants.

I turn around and walk the short distance to his bed and sit on the edge of it and pull Jonathan down next to me. I take a deep breath as he looks at me expectantly and gather my thoughts. I have to be careful how I tell him what he wants me to do. I know he will be very angry and I have to try and temper his reaction any way I can. "He wants me to go to New York and get the Cup from mom, like you predicted."

Jonathan visibly relaxes when I tell him this part. He seems relieved thinking that this it the only thing I was upset about. "But that is not all." I add on and see him stiffen. "Yes, I don't want to see mom just yet. I don't think I am ready for that. It brings up all sorts of unresolved issues and insecurities and fears just by itself." I grab Jonathan's hand then and pull them into my lap. He realizes then that there is more to the story and I watch him tense considerably. "Before I tell you this next part, Jonathan, you have to promise me that you won't freak out. You will stay calm because nothing between us has changed. Okay?"

I see the muscles in his jaw flex and him clench his teeth together. "I can't promise that." he says through his teeth.

"You have to." I reply with fervor and his face contorts even more into a small sneer. "Please, for me." I say and after a few seconds, gives me one tight nod. "Okay," I say as I look down at our hands locked together nervously. "He wants Jace to go with me." Jonathan's muscles in his hands tighten quickly and go stiff and I look back up to his borderline angry face.

"That wouldn't cause you to react the way you did." he says shortly and looks to me like he wants me to go on. I know that he is having a hard time being patient right now and I have to remember that. Jonathan has never been the most patient man.

"No, it wouldn't." I say and square my shoulders a little bit. I should just say it quickly. Like ripping off a band-aid really fast. "He wants Jace to pose as my boyfriend who helped me escape Father and then helped me find her."

Shit. Here it comes. Jonathan pulls his hands out of mine and stands up quickly. I stand up too and look to see him walking angrily towards his door and I call out for him to stop. He comes to a halt right in front of his door and then turns around to face his room. Jonathan's face is red with anger and I don't think he has taken a breath since I told him. "Breathe, baby." I tell him as I hurriedly walk over to him. I put myself right in front of him and bring my hands up to cup his face. "Please, just breathe, babe." I plead with him.

He finally sucks in a deep breath and I pull his face down to mine. I give him a quick kiss and he pulls back after few seconds and I can see that he has calmed down considerably. He is by no means not angry anymore, but it is more under control. "But you are _mine_." Jonathan says through his clenched jaw. He grabs me by my face and holds it still as he brings his mouth angrily to mine.

I open my mouth and I let his tongue in. I can feel the desperation in his kiss. The need to let me and everyone else know that I am his. Before I know it, he reaches down and picks me up and wraps my legs around his waist. He walks over to his bed and then pulls his mouth from mine and tosses me onto his bed on my stomach. His hands are on me before I can roll over to look at him.

He rips my dress down the back and my eyes fly wide open with surprise. Father is right down stairs and there is no telling where Jace is. I won't be able to put my dress back on and I will have to sneak back into my room.

I hear him undo his belt and then the bed sinks down behind me. I raise up on my hands and knees and then feel his large hands wrap around my hips and then he pushes into me angrily. I let out a little startled and quiet yelp at his sudden invasion and then he is grunting as he thrusts into me. "Jonathan." I whisper and reach back to place my hand on his that is on my hip. I can feel his need to have me even though I wasn't exactly in the mood.

He seems to understand this and then shifts slightly to the right and starts to hit my spot. I throw my head back and moan quietly as my hand that is on his squeezes involuntarily. Jonathan wants to make this enjoyable for me even though this is solely about him. His thrusts are rough and angry and it is like he is showing me his true feelings and worries right now.

No matter what I tell him, he is still insecure. He is insecure about our relationship and about his hold over me and this is the only way he can assure himself that I am his. That I am not going anywhere and that I won't leave him. He wants to make me feel so good that I won't want to leave him even if it was just about the sex, which it's not. He needs me to need him and love him. No matter how many times I tell him that I love him and that I am not going anywhere, he still has trouble believing it because he doesn't fully understand it. He doesn't understand the way that I love him and is worried that one day I will change my mind and hate him and leave like pretty much everyone else has done.

So I allow him this. I let him take me on his bed so he will feel better and more secure in our relationship.

He is pushing into me over and over again harshly and is still relentlessly hitting my spot. I start to breath raggedly and then my orgasm sneaks up on me. There was no build up this time and it takes me by surprise. I clench my lips together and squeeze my eyes shut as the waves of pleasure rush through my blood. I am moaning deep in my throat and I can feel my walls spasming and clenching tighter around him. Just as I start to come down, I feel him start to twitch inside of me. He grunts quietly under his breath down in his throat as he rides out his own orgasm. After another half a minute he pulls out of me and then pulls me up and turns me around to face him.

We are both on our knees on his bed and my dress is hanging off one of my arms in a jagged piece while he still has his shirt on and his pants are still on and are just below his knees. I look up to his face and he brings his hands up to either side of mine and holds my head. "I don't want you to go." he says to me as his dark eyes look deeply into mine.

I raise my hands up and put them on top of his and soften my eyes towards him. "I don't want to go either, but I have to. You know Father won't let me out of this."

"I don't _care_ what Father wants you to do." he says emphatically and with a hint of anger. "You are _mine_."

I narrow my eyes slightly at him and think about what I am going to say next. "Yes, I _am_ yours but I can still do what I want." I say sternly and his eyes then narrow at me. "I will always be yours, Jonathan. I love you and I am with you, forever. But there are some things that we have to do to ultimately get everything we want. Once Father is head of the Clave, no one will be able to tell us what to do. And for him to be head of the Clave, he needs to have the Mortal Cup."

"Father will." Jonathan says bitterly and I pull my face together in confusion. "What?" I say not understanding his meaning. "Father will be able to tell us what to do when he is head of the Clave." he finishes bitterly and I can tell how much he hates that idea.

I know that he is right but that still doesn't change the fact that Father needs to get his hands on the Cup. If anyone is to have control over the Clave, he will have to have the Cup. "But that..." I start to say and then he cuts me off.

His eyes start to fill with excitement as he lets go of my face and stands up quickly. He grabs his pants and pulls them up as he starts to talk animatedly. "We don't need Father, Clary, to take over the Clave. We can do it on our own. I have been thinking about it for years. I know that if I asked the fair folk to join me in taking the Clave down, they would. They hate the Nephilim more than any of the downworlders. We can make our own Mortal Cup. I know of someone who has pure adamas..."

I stand up and shrug my dress off and it hits the floor. I am just in a strapless bra that is pushed down a little and no underwear. "Jonathan, stop." I tell him and hold up my hand in a sign for him to stop talking and pacing. He looks at me with his slightly wild eyes that are filled with excitement and his expression falls a little when he sees my face.

"I don't think that would be the best idea." I tell him cautiously. "I don't want a war with the Clave. There are already too little of our race left and the last thing we need is to have less of us to protect the world against demons."

"But that is why we would make our own Mortal Cup." Jonathan says as he steps over to me and places his hands on the tops of my arms.

"And what?" I say expectantly. "We just summon Raziel again and he willingly gives us his blood again?" My voice is heavy on the sarcasm and Jonathan's face tightens a little. "I don't think he will be too keen on the idea. He would probably kill us just for bothering him."

"I wouldn't use Raziel's blood." he replies earnestly. "And no, not Ithuriel's either. I could tell that is what you were thinking. His blood wouldn't be strong enough."

He's right. That is what I was thinking. "Then whose blood, Jonathan?" I fold my arms across my chest and wait for his brilliant answer. For once in his life, he looks a little unsure and afraid when he looks back at me and I am instantly convinced that I won't like whatever he is about to say. He seems to know this too by the look on his face. "What about Lilith's blood?"

"What!?" I shout at him as I step back. "No way, Jonathan."

" _I_ didn't turn out so bad." he says in defense, but that reasoning won't work on me. "There is no way that I am going to let you turn people into demon hybrids, Jonathan. I know that you are different and are like, the only exception, but you had me to help you. Not everyone will turn out like you. In fact, I think most of them would turn out to be horrible monsters."

Dammit. I have gone too far. He looks hurt. I can tell he is upset with me because of my complete refusal of his plan but it was a shitty plan for the rest of the world. Good for him, but no one else. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as I close my eyes and calm down. When I open them back up, I see that Jonathan has turned his back to me. I take two steps to close the space between us and wrap my arms around his torso from behind.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan. I didn't mean to react like that." I say calmly to him. He doesn't move or relax so I continue. "I still like your idea of taking the Clave from Father once he gets it. Let him do all of the hard leg work for us. It will be easier that way and neither one of us will have to get our hands dirty. I know that isn't exactly a plus for you, but it is for me." He still doesn't budge. "Please, Jonathan. We don't have to wait much longer."

I rest my head on his back and just wait. I know he has to calm down and I am willing to wait. About five minutes pass when he finally relaxes a little. He spins around in my arms and then places his arms around me. "I will wait." he says shortly to me and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "But I want you to remember one thing, and one thing only."

I crane my neck up and see Jonathan staring down into my eyes. "And what is that?" I ask him.

"I want you to remember that you are mine." he says firmly to me and I shiver a little a the intensity of his pointed gaze. "That when you are in New York with that golden boy, you will only think of me. You won't let him touch you and you won't touch him."

I let the relief that I feel spread across my face and smile warmly up at him. "That won't be hard at all." I say as I run my hands up his chest and around his neck slowly. "You are all I think about." I say sexily to him and pull his lips to mine for a soft kiss. "You are the only one I will ever let touch me because you are all that I want. _Only_ you." My voice is pure sex and full of undeniable honesty and he smiles at my words. I pull his lips to mine once more and shove my tongue into his mouth as his arms tighten around me. "You're mine." I whisper fervently when he pulls back to take a breath and he growls his approval into my mouth as he walks me over to his bed once more.


	9. Chapter 9

**-Clary**

The next five days go by painstakingly slow. Father has Jace and I spending almost all of our free time together. I am _positive_ that this is all part of his plan to get me pick him as my 'suitor'. He is pushing Jace on me and it is really annoying. I would be absolutely pissed if I didn't get along with Jace as well as I do. I have also learned a lot about him. He is still going to stick to the story of his father dying when he was ten and his name and so on and so on when we go to New York.

Jace tells me about the presents Father would give him when he was little and about his little adoptive brother named Max. His whole face lights up when he talks about him. I get the feeling though that his parabatai, who is Max's real brother, is a little jealous of their relationship by the way he talks about him. I can also tell that Alec is the more serious one that keeps Jace out of trouble. He stops him from running head first into things and bad situations. I start to notice after spending so much time with him that if he didn't have someone to do that for him, he would probably be dead. Jace told me about this one time when he was following a demon into a warehouse without thinking and Alec literally had to tackle him to the ground to stop him and make him wait for backup. When it arrived, much to Jace's annoyance, they entered and found out that there were at least four dozen demons waiting to attack them.

That makes me wonder who does that for me. Jonathan maybe, but I am usually the one holding him back because of his, at times, shaky self control. Speaking of Jonathan, he has been hovering around Jace and I the past five days as well. He is showing great restraint by keeping his cool and somewhat befriending Jace. Knowing Jonathan though, I am sure he is secretly hoping he dies somehow on our trip. I know that some part of him feels threatened by Jace. He is cocky and self-assured and is pretty funny when he wants to be. I know the amount of laughter that he gets out of me makes Jonathan angry. He told me after the second day that he wants to be the one to make me laugh the way that Jace did earlier that day. His admission was uncharacteristically like him that I instantly fell more in love with him. He has this whole other side that no one sees except me and that is why I love him. He is vulnerable with me and no one can possibly understand how much effort it takes for him trust me with his heart like that.

So as I climb up the stairs with Jace chatting to me as we walk after dinner, I think about ways I can reward him for his effort and patience. I am only half listening to Jace when I catch the words 'naked' and 'running' come from his mouth. I look over to him with a small smile on my lips thinking that whatever he is going to say is going to be very amusing. "What are you talking about?" I ask him.

"I said I was going to tell you about the time that I ate some faerie fruit from a downworld diner and stripped naked and ran down the street." Jace is looking at me and smiles widely when he finishes. I am sure he can see that he has caught my attention and curiosity and is clearly pleased with himself. "But, if you would rather stay inside of that pretty little head of yours tangled up in whatever you were thinking about just now, I can always tell you later. How does three a.m. sound?"

One of the things he has found out about me is that I love my sleep. The fact that he is now threatening it is a bad move on his part. "You wouldn't dare, Jace. I believe I would have to kill you if you woke me up then."

"Alright. If you insist, I will tell you the whole story now instead." Jace says with a triumphant smile. I return his smile with a small one of my own and then I hear Jonathan's voice. I look up to see that we are two steps down from our hallway and Jonathan is resting his elbows on the banister. "I hope your story can wait because I am supposed to make sure that Clary is in bed on time tonight. Father says that you are leaving early in the morning."

The smile that was on my face instantly falls. I don't want to leave any more than I did five days ago. The time I have had to think about my upcoming meeting with my mother have not eased my worries. In fact, it might have made it worse. The more I think about it, the more anxiety I feel. "Don't remind me." I say dryly to Jonathan and Jace's face seems to tighten just a little. He, on the other hand, is excited about going back to New York. He is apparently dying to take me to his favorite diner there saying that they have the best spaghetti and meatballs on the planet. "It won't be so bad, Clary." Jace offers as we reach the top. "I will be there with you when you see her again. You won't be alone."

That was the wrong thing to say. Jace is turned slightly to his left and facing me with Jonathan behind him and he tenses considerably when Jace says that. There was a massive fight with Father on the second day when I mentioned having Jonathan with me on the trip and he completely shut down the idea. Jonathan put up one hell of a verbal fight with Father then trying to convince him that he should go with me. He just told Jonathan that he was the reason that Jocelyn hated him. He reminded Jonathan, for the millionth time, that Jocelyn instantly hated him from the moment he was born and that if her were to show up with me, that she would completely reject us both. Jonathan then said that he would stay out of the way and hidden but Father had not let up. He said that he didn't want to take the chance that someone would spot him. Since then, things have been tense between Jonathan and Father to say the least.

"Thanks Jace." is all I manage to say as I give him a small smile. He then smiles back and tells me goodnight and then is through the door to the hallway that leads to the back stairs where he can reach his room. Jonathan then grabs me by the hand and pulls me into my room and shuts and locks the door behind him. "What are you doing Jonathan?" I say quietly to him. If I know Father, he will be up in my room soon to make sure that I am packed and ready to go.

He looks down at me with the biggest most mischievious grin on his face. "I slipped some mundane medicine into Father's drink at dinner tonight." he says excitedly. "It was a few sleeping pills so he will be out like the dead for the rest of the night."

"Why did you do that?" I ask him with a little bit of an amused smile on my lips.

"Because," Jonathan says slowly and then pulls the baggy sweatshirt that he is wearing over his head to reveal a crisp white button up shirt on underneath with a sleek suit blazer over it. I stand there shocked and watch him kick off the matching sweat pants and see that he is wearing some dark wash designer jeans. The whole ensemble just screams 'rich male model' and I swoon a little.

"Why are you dressed like that?" I ask accusingly.

"Because," he says as he steps closer and pulls me into him, "I am taking my woman to Paris for the night. She is going on some trip and I want to woo her so she won't forget about me while she is gone."

"Jonathan." I say surprised. "You look really hot." I want to say something else along the lines of 'we could get caught' or 'you're so sweet' and 'thank you', but seeing him look so stylish and casual yet not too casual, that is all I can get out. You can see the faint black marks that cover his chest through his crisp white button up and make out the muscles underneath. I unconsciously bite my lip as I look him up and down.

"I like the way you are looking at me, baby sister." Jonathan says. His voice is deep and husky and sends shivers down my spine. He pulls my body flush with his and squeezes tightly. "I just wanted to take you on a date. A real date. But there is one thing I need from you."

I flatten my hands on his chest and run them slowly up to his neck feeling every dip between his muscles. "Anything." I say sexily. I think I know where this is going.

"I need you to make us a portal." I stiffen and Jonathan laughs a little and then steps away.

I look up to him and narrow my eyes. "I thought you were going to say that you wanted something _else_."

"I could tell by the way you were looking at me that you were at least hoping that I would say something _very_ naughty."

"Well," I say with a smile and step closer to him, "I still am." and I slide my hand down his chest and all the way down and cup his manhood in my hands through his pants. He groans a little and holds still for a second and then steps away again.

"As much as I would like to defile my dear sister right here, right now, we will be late for our reservation if you don't start getting ready right now."

I groan a little feeling sexually frustrated and then stomp over to my closet. I walk all the way to the back and find a green bodycon dress. It dips a little low in the front and sticks to me like a second skin while it goes all the way down to my knees, but still doesn't look too conservative. I think about putting on a black one but he sees my in black everyday so I decide on a little color. My hair is already fixed from dinner and so all I really need is a little more makeup. I give myself a dark brown and black smoky eye and then put on some eyeliner and some tinted lip balm. After slipping on some three inch stilettos, I step out of my bathroom and present myself to Jonathan. I do a little slow turn with a sly grin on my face because I know I look good tonight and get the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen with desire. I grab my black cropped leather jacket and put it on giving me a sort of bad-ass look.

"Clary, you look fucking _hot_." Jonathan says with fervor and so I smirk at him.

"We make a pretty good looking couple, if I do say so myself." I say a little playfully.

"Babe, I have to go to the bathroom," Jonathan says as he starts to walk over to my bathroom door, "but I forgot my wallet. Can you go grab it off of my dresser?"

"Yeah." I walk over to my door with a smile on my face as he disappears into my bathroom and swing the door open. When I do, I jump in surprise and let out little startled yelp of "Jace!" as I see him standing right in front of my door with his arm raised and ready to knock. "What are you doing here?" I ask with a little panic in my voice. I want to look back to my bathroom and make sure that Jonathan can't be seen, but that would look suspicious so I just hold my eyes forward and on his face.

Jace's mouth slowly opens just a little as he takes in what I am wearing. His eyes slowly travel down and then back up to my face and I can see that the gold in his eyes have darkened by a fraction and they are smoldering at me. "I just came to tell you that I found one of your steles in the lounge around the corner." He holds up one of my older steles that I haven't seen in about a month. "Oh. Thanks." I say and reach out to take it. Jace, being Jace, pulls it back at the last second and looks me over one more time before looking back up to my face with one of his eyebrows raised quizzically at me. "You don't look like you are going to bed any time soon."

I look down at myself and then back up to him and let out a slightly exasperated breath. "I am sneaking out to meet up with some girlfriends before I leave tomorrow. I wanted to hang out with them one more time because I don't know when I will be back." I quickly congratulate myself for coming up with a believable explanation and Jace's face turns appreciative after a minute. "And here I thought you were Miss. Goody Two-Shoes." He lets out a little chuckle at his own joke and I roll my eyes.

"There is a lot you don't know about me, Jace." He raises both of his brows then and says, "I can see that now. And let me say, I am impressed."

I furrow my brows in confusion and surprise. "Impressed?" I say incredulously.

"Well you obviously have never been caught or Father would have had you under twenty four hour surveillance. That, alone, requires great skill. Not to mention what you are wearing." He steps back and motions his hand up and down as his eyes drag lazily up and down me once more. "You are hiding a whole other side of you from me. A side that I think I might like; a lot."

"That is because I barely know you." I say sounding a little unfriendly. "I don't know if you have your nose firmly planted up Father's ass and will run off and tell him about this the first chance you get."

His face goes from amused to slightly offended. "I would never." he says dramatically. "In fact, I wouldn't mind joining in on the fun."

Oh great. Now he wants to crash my date with Jonathan. "It's a girls night, Jace. No matter how pretty you think you are, I don't think my friends would approve of me bringing along some guy they have never met before. Not to mention that I don't want to have to hear which ever one of them you would surely hook up with complain about how you never called her back. I try to avoid drama at all costs."

I am surprised to see him actually look slightly offended for just a second before he schools his features back into the mask he wears most of the time. "I wouldn't hook up with any of your friends no matter how much they begged." Jace says after a few seconds with a smug smile. "I only hook up with the hottest girl in a group and I am sure that _no_ _one_ could look hotter than you in that dress."

And now he is flirting again. I can't help but blush just a little at his compliment and then I glance over my shoulder and back into my room like I am looking at a clock. "I have to go, Jace. I am already late." I say in a slightly whiny voice. His face falls just a little at my rejection of his suggestion that he joins me and my 'friends' and then he nods his head in understanding. "Okay." he says and then steps aside for me to walk by.

"I have to borrow some money from Jonathan." I tell him when he looks confused as to why I am walking to his room. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." I give him a small smile and then knock once on his door and then push it open as I say "Jonathan?" questioningly, even though I know he is not in there. I grab his wallet and wait a couple of minutes and then poke my head out of the room. When I see the coast is clear, I hurry over and go back into my room tosee Jonathan laying back on my bed. "I thought he would never leave." he says sounding exasperated as he sits up. "Tell me about it." I reply and give him a quick smile and hold out my hand for him to take.

He stands up as I put my stele to my wall and draw us a portal. I feel him take my other hand as I tuck my stele back into my jacket pocket and then he is pulling me into the swirling blue.

We end up having one of the best nights of my life. He takes me to a restaurant that only serves desert (because we ate dinner at home with Father) and then we walk the streets. He take me on a stroll through the most beautiful park where we stop numerous times to make out for a minute and then carry on. We then find a _very_ French lingerie store that Jonathan practically drags me into. He picks out a few things for me to try on and so I do. When I open the little curtain of the dressing area to show him a black lace see-through bra and matching panty set, his eyes start to blaze with desire and then he steps into the curtained changing room and takes me right then. The store attendant comes back there and starts shouting angrily at us until Jonathan grabs a handful of money and tosses it over the curtain. She stops shouting immediately and then says for us to hurry up and walks away. I laugh a little and then we go back to having sex for the next ten minutes until we are both satisfied.

I blush bright red when we come out and I make eye contact with the girl. Jonathan, on the other hand, is smiling like a fox as he tosses everything I tried on onto the checkout counter and buys it all. He leaves her another large tip and as we walk out, she shouts for us to return soon and I almost die of embarrassment.

When we get back home, it is almost one-thirty in the morning and I am officially worn out. We both strip out of our clothes and climb into bed where he kisses me softly and sweetly for a while and then I fall asleep in the comfort of his arms.

* * *

I wake up to loud knocking at my door and Father's voice. "Clarissa! It's time to get up. We are running late." My eyes snap open and I turn my head to see that Jonathan is gone thankfully. I don't want Father to come barging in here and find him in my bed half naked. "Are you awake?"

"Yes, Father. " I shout back so he will hear me as I sit up in bed and rub my tired eyes. "I'm up."

"Good. Be downstairs in twenty minutes. You have a plane to catch."

I fall back down onto my bed and throw my arm over my eyes. I hate flying. He still doesn't want Jace to know about my abilities just yet so he is making us fly on a mundane plane. Did I mention I hate to fly? The only plus side is that Father sprang for first class tickets. When I brought up having a warlock make us a portal instead, he said that he didn't want mom's friend Magnus Bane, who is a warlock, to tell her that he sensed portal activity right before I got there and tell her where it came from.

The plane ride is pretty uneventful. I sleep most of the way after Jace make a few jokes about how I should have gone to bed with my stuffed animals instead of playing dress up with my friends. After a few jabs to his ribs, he stops laughing at his is own horrible joke and leaves me to sleep the rest of the time. When the plane lands at JFK and Jace shakes me awake, I immediately start to feel the anxiety build in my chest. I am actually in NYC and tomorrow I will be seeing my mom for the first time in almost fourteen years. I grab my carry on bag and silently follow Jace as we make our way through the crowded airport. I remain silent the entire time as my mind starts to run away with what is going to happen. The next time I look up, I see that we are leaving the airport and then climbing into a cab and taking off. I vaguely register Jace shouting an address to the cabbie and then saying my name. I look over to him and his expression is full of concern and he is saying something. "What?" I ask when I realize that I am not hearing him.

"I was asking you if you are alright." Jace asks while speaking softly. "You look like you have gone somewhere inside of your head and are just moving your limbs by instinct rather than on purpose."

I look away from him and then out of the window and I begin speaking before I can stop myself. "It's just that the last time I was here, I was five and living with my mother. My whole life was completely different." I drop my eyes to my hands that are wringing nervously in my lap. "I guess I am just afraid of what is going to happen next. Of if she is going to accept me after all of this time."

I sit there for a few seconds and then I see Jace's hand come into view. He places his large hand on top of both of mine and I stop wringing them and look over to him questioningly. "Everything will be fine one way or another." he says reassuringly. "If she doesn't want anything to do with you, which I think the chances of that are slim, then it is undoubtedly her loss. But if she does, then you can start to rebuild your relationship. I am not saying that it wouldn't be hard but I am sure it would be worth it in the end, however it turns out. At least you will be able to say that you tried and that is what makes you so brave."

"Brave?" I say unsurely with my voice going up a few octaves.

"Clary," Jace says with a small smile, "you are incredibly brave." I give him a similar small smile and then turn to look back out of the window at the passing city. We are headed to a hotel in Brooklyn. Jace wanted to just stay at the Institute but Father quickly shut down that idea saying that we needed to keep a 'low profile' and booked us a hotel room a few blocks from my mom's place. When Jonathan found this out, he punched a two hundred pound punching bag to pieces in only a few minutes. This whole ordeal has been really hard on him and I am so proud of how well he is handling it. He hasn't once tried to kill Jace or Father which is saying a lot for him.

It takes a while but we finally arrive at the hotel and that is when I realize that Jace still has his hand on top of both of mine. I have been so consumed with my thoughts that I didn't even notice. I quickly pull my hands back and step out of the taxi before Jace can even pay the driver. Jace steps out of the cab as the trunk pops open and I hurriedly grab my bag. "I can get that for you, Clary." he offers with a smile.

"I can get it." I say back to him and start to walk into the hotel. It is a little on the fancy side of nice and I just hope that Father got us adjoining rooms like he said. I hear the lobby door open and turn around to see Jace with his backpack slung over one of his shoulders and his rolling suitcase that is mostly filled with various weapons stroll over to me. Thankfully, Father did get us adjoining rooms. I wouldn't put it past him to 'accidentally' book us a room together so we would be pushed together that much more. Jonathan told me about the journal of Father's he read not too long ago when he decided to bring Jace back. He said that Father talked endlessly about the possibilities of powers that Jace and I's offspring could produce. Once again, he doesn't love Jonathan, Jace, or I. Just what we can do for him. Even if Jace and I did have a baby together, he would just take it and treat it like an experiment.

Jace grabs the keys and then we are on our way up to the tenth floor. Our hotel rooms are all the way at the end of the hall and the stairs are right across from us. I haven't said a word to Jace since we got out of the cab and I can sense that he is bothered by that. Why he is bothered by that, I have no idea. "Which one is my key?" I ask him as he pulls them from the back pocket of his jeans. He looks down and picks one out and hands it to me. I swipe it quickly and step into the room.

There is nothing out of the ordinary about the hotel room. There are some very generic watercolor prints on the walls and the queen sized bed is right in the middle of the room with the desk and chair on the farthest wall in front of the window. I hear a tapping on the interior door and toss my bag onto the bed. I walk over to the door and open it to see Jace smiling gently at me. "Do you just want to leave the two interior doors unlocked?" he asks me.

"We can unless I am changing or something like that." I tell him with a shrug of my shoulders. "But right now, I just really want to lay down. I am feeling a little jet lagged." I look over to the digital clock on the night stand and see that it is three o'clock in the afternoon. "Can you wake me up for dinner if I fall asleep? Maybe around seven?"

"Sure. No problem."

"Okay. See you later." I tell him and then close the door. I go over to the bed and fall onto it next to my suitcase and just lay there looking up to the ceiling. I find myself thinking about seeing Mom tomorrow and I start to panic a little. I quickly shift my focus to the well rehearsed script that Father shoved down my throat and try to remember every syllable. I do this until my eyes start to feel heavy and before I know it, I fall asleep.

I wake up around six and I feel pretty well rested. I probably won't be able to sleep at all tonight. I haul myself up and decide to take a shower since I haven't had one since before Jonathan and I's date in Paris last night. I woke up this morning and just pulled my hair into a ponytail and slipped on some old jeans with holes in the knees and a t-shirt and called it a day. I rifle through my bag and dig up my toiletries and take a long hot shower. It helps me relax and clear my mind of worrying about tomorrow.

When I am done, I meticulously dry and straighten my hair as straight as a pin and then put on some light colored jeans and a black fitted shirt and some light makeup. If I don't put mascara on it looks like I don't have eyelashes and I am _not_ about that. The second I am done, I hear a knock on the adjoining door and look to see that it is exactly seven o'clock. Jace then pokes his head in with a hand held up to cover his eyes. "Is it safe to open my eyes?" he asks and I can't help but chuckle a little at the site of him looking a little silly.

"You can look, Jace. I am fully dressed."

He drops his hand and finds me coming out of my bathroom and then scans my room. "Wow." he says as he eyes my bed. There are clothes all over it and bath products and a few weapons. "Your room is a mess."

"We all can't be obsessively O.C.D. about the tidiness of our personal spaces like you." I pull my hand up to my chin and make a show of thinking. "I think the better word to describe it would be anal-retentive."

"If I were you, I would be nicer to me." he states as he folds his arms across his chest. "I was going to take you to my favorite restaurant but I won't if you don't start being nice."

I roll my eyes, hard, and then look back to him. "Oh please wonderful and merciful Jace, absolve me of my atrocious sins against thee. For thou knowest the best restaurant in town and I must eat of it's fruit before I am allowed to die peacefully, having feasted on thy wonders." My voice is _heavy_ on the sarcasm and he lets out a long roll of laughter as he grabs my leather jacket and walks over to me. "Come on, lets go. It can get a little crowded with vampires at night."

He takes me to this place called Taki's and I have to admit, the food there is amazing. I eat every bite of my food while the waitress, who is obviously part fey, glares daggers at me and flirts shamelessly with Jace. He tries to brush her off but she just keeps coming back when she sees that I don't get mad. I think she was just trying to get a rise out of me.

After dinner, we go back to the hotel and watch movies for a while. We stopped and got some candy, which I never get to have, and I eat three whole bags of peanut M&Ms. Those things are delicious! The next time I look at the clock it is a little past one in the morning and I kick Jace out of my room. As he is leaving, he looks like he wants to say something to me but doesn't so I just tell him goodnight and strip into my underwear and a t-shirt and climb into bed.

I have been successfully able to keep my mind of tomorrow all night until now. Now that I am alone in my room and have no Jonathan to hold me and kiss me, I find myself becoming more and more nervous. So I do what I did earlier. I start running through the story of how Jace and I met when I snuck out one night and went to a party in Allicante. How we quickly fell in love and he helped me escape Father's evil clutches. There is even a story about Jonathan that is totally not my favorite so I think I will make a few changes when the time comes. Hopefully Jace will easily go along. I start obsessing about what to say and after a while I look back to the clock to see that it is now three thirty in the morning. Shit. I really need to go to sleep. I roll over onto my side and line some pillows up behind me so that it feels like Jonathan is in the bed with me. I know it is sad, but I pretend that it is him and I am able to fall asleep not too long after that.

* * *

 _I'm running. Running as fast as I can. Too bad it's not fast enough. I can feel the monster gaining on me. I turn around to see where he is but I see nothing. When I turn back around, I feel his hot breath on my neck. I let out a little scream and then trip over something on the ground and fall hard, face first. I quickly flip over and hold my hands over my face and scream as I can feel him getting closer and closer and then..._

I sit up straight in bed panting with wide eyes. I look around for any sign of danger and when my brain gives me the green light of safety, I hear a knock on the interior door. That must have been what woke me up. I look over to see that it is now eight in the morning and wipe the sweat that has formed over my brow. "Yeah?" I say a little loud and then hear Jace's voice. "I am just checking on you. I was going to let you sleep till nine but I heard you make some kind of loud whimpering noise. Are you okay?"

I take a deep breath as I try to push the terrifying nightmare from the forefront of my mind and close my eyes. "I'm fine. I just had a bad dream."

"Can I come in?" I see the doorknob turn slightly and I quickly say, "No. I'm not dressed." I am still only in a t-shirt and underwear. "Just give me thirty minutes and we can go and eat breakfast." I see the doorknob return to is previous position and hear Jace say, "Okay." and then I put my feet onto the floor.

I put back on the jeans I wore last night and then go digging in my suitcase for another shirt. When I push aside my gear, I see a small black shiny object. I furrow my brows a little and reach down for it. It's a cell phone. I flip it over and see that there is a sticky note stuck to the back of it and I smile widely when I see Jonathan's chicken scratch he calls handwriting and pull the note off.

Jonathan- " _I can't go without at least hearing your voice for longer than a day. I had a warlock cast a spell on mine so it will work here in Idris. I am number one on speed dial but text me when you can. I don't want Father to catch me with it and if I can, I will call you back. I love you and already miss you."_

I pull the phone to my chest and smile widely as I clutch it like a lifeline. I turn it on and quickly send him a text. _"Jonathan! I can't believe you did this. You are so awesome! You have no idea how badly I wanted to talk to you last night but I didn't find this until now. Can you talk?"_

While I am waiting for a response, I finish getting dressed in a navy blue and dark purple tiny patterned shirt. Jonathan says it compliments my skin and hair really well. Just as I get done brushing my hair, I hear a little 'ping' and grab the phone off of the bed. Jonathan texted me. _"Sorry babe. Can't talk right now. I will call you later. I am glad that you liked my surprise and I can't wait to hear your voice. Love you._ "

I quickly text back feeling a little sad, _"Love you more."_ and then tuck the phone into my back pocket. I walk over to the adjoining door and knock to hear Jace tell me to come in. He is laying casually on his bed with one of his arms behind his head and watching t.v. "Have you seen this?" Jace asks and points to the television. I look up to see mundanes trying to jump onto some big red balls and watch them bounce very ungracefully off and then into some water. "What in the world are you watching?" I ask incredulously.

"The program says it is some game show called Wipeout. These mundanes try to navigate this ridiculous obstacle course and instead, just end up in water."

"That is the stupidest thing in the world." I say as I see some overweight man wearing cape running down a ramp at full speed. It looks like he is supposed to walk across some rolling beam above the water. "That is not going to end well for him." I say just as his foot touches the spinning beam.

"Tell me about it." Jace replies. "He foot placement is all wrong."

"He should turn it about fifteen degrees to the left." I say as I become engrossed in the stupid show. "I could easily run that stupid course in thirty seconds."

"I could do it in twenty five." Jace says and I roll my eyes. He always tries to outdo me.

"Come on, blondie. Let's get this over with before I have more time to think about it and have a panic attack." I turn and walk to the hallway door in his room and hear the television turn off. "I'll grab your jacket. It gets a little chilly in the mornings." Jace says as he disappears into my room. It is late September and he is probably right. When he returns, I slide my leather jacket on my shoulders and then we are walking to the elevator.

We go down to the lobby and eat breakfast in the small restaurant while making light conversation, mainly about that gameshow. We strategize at what would have been the most direct way to get though it and it helps me keep my mind off of what I am about to do. That all goes out of the window when we leave the restaurant and start to make our way outside. "Do you want to walk?" Jace asks as we walk through the doors. The air is a little crisp and I pull my jacket tighter around me, thankful that Jace got it for me. "Yeah. That sounds good." I say to him. He gives me a gentle smile and then nods towards the left. "It's this way. Just stay with me and we should be there shortly."

I give him a nervous nod and fold my arms across my chest. The only sound I hear are our feet as they hit the concrete and passing cars and the occasional person shouting some indecipherable. I run over the script painstakingly slow to keep my mind occupied while Jace stays quiet. I think he is trying to give me time to think and prepare myself for this and for that, I am grateful.

When we get to the corner of street, Jace suddenly stops and I look up to him a little confused. "That building right there," he points to a house that has been divided into two apartments with a small garden out front. There is a sign in the front window advertising palm readings and tarot cards. "is where we are going. She lives in the top apartment."

My heart jumps into my throat then and my stomach feels like it is in a free fall and ends up all the way down to where my feet are. I swallow past the huge lump now lodged in my throat and look up to Jace. "You can do this." he says fervently. I look back down to the brick building and a memory suddenly comes back. I remember seeing this place. This is where we lived together. I briefly wonder why she never moved. She probably didn't move because after Father took me, she figured there was no sense in hiding. He was always going to find her. I square my shoulders a little and find the determination deep down inside of me and put one foot in front of the other. My feet carry me forward with Jace at my side and I can't help but think what a good friend he has been to me. He seemed to know that I needed a distraction last night and this morning and provided one.

Too soon, we are at the front steps and I suddenly freeze as I look up to the door. Jace doesn't say a word and allows me to have a minute to gather my nerves. Maybe two or three minutes pass before I feel like my feet aren't giant cement blocks and I am able to climb the steps. He opens the door for me and lets me go through. The foyer is dark and I can see the door to the downstairs apartment to my right. There is an open sign hanging on the door and the light smell of burning incense. I look to my left and see what once was a grand staircase that has been worn down over the years. I steel myself one last time and then push myself up the stairs.

I keep my head down and on my feet as I climb, not wanting to see the door approaching for some reason, with Jace right beside me. When we reach the landing with the door my heart suddenly starts to sprint like it is in a marathon. I hastily turn to Jace and look up at him with scared eyes. "I can't do this." I tell him in a whisper. "I thought I could, but I can't." I start to make a move to go around him and he grabs me by my shoulders and holds me in place.

He dips his head down and locks eyes with me. "Yes you can, Clary." he says earnestly to me even though his voice is barely above a whisper. "We have come this far. Don't let your fear of the unknown take over. Everything will be fine." His golden eyes are full of conviction that I don't feel and I draw a little bit of strength from them. I close my eyes and take some purposeful and deep breaths and then open my eyes again. "Okay." I say to him. "But you are going to have to knock. I can't do that part."

He smiles gently and then grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers together. I look down in shock and then back up to his face. "We are boyfriend and girlfriend, remember?" he says with a playful smile. "Right." I say and settle my hand into his. It is logical that we would be holding hands since we are supposed to be in love.

I watch in slow motion as he brings his left hand up to knock on the door three quick times and my heart leaps into my throat. I hear movement and then distinct footsteps as I hear a man's voice shout "I'll get it." as the footsteps get closer. I wasn't expecting a man to be here.

The doorknob starts to turn and I squeeze Jace's hand tighter as the door swings open. I look up to see a relatively tall guy with dark hair and glasses look to Jace with a quizzical look on his face. "Can I help you?" he says and then looks down to me. I suddenly think to myself that my mom had another kid in a panic and then quickly dismiss the idea. He looks too old to be more than five years younger than me, although he does look vaguely familiar.

His eyes are on me for a fraction of a second as I start to say, "I'm so sorry. We must have the wrong place." I start to turn away when I hear the guy say, "Wait." I look back up to him and he is squinting his eyes at me. "Does a woman named Jocelyn live here?" Jace asks and the guy looks back over to Jace and says, "Yeah. Jocelyn lives here."

His eyes are immediately back on me and then something changes. His eyes go from squinting lightly at me to full blown saucer size. His mouth pops open a little and I look nervously to Jace. He looks back at me looking confused and then I turn my attention back to the guy in the doorway. His face has paled slightly and the way he is looking at me is starting to freak me out a little bit. "Um," I start to say when it becomes clear that he isn't going to say anything and his mouth suddenly starts to form words.

"Oh my God. Is that you, Clary?" he says with the same shocked look on his face. I look back up to Jace and see that he has a very small smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. "Simon, who is it?" I hear a woman's voice call from somewhere else in the apartment. It only takes the first syllable to know that that is my mother's voice and I suddenly feel like I am five years old again.

I look a little harder at the guy in front of me and take a small step forward as I look closely at him. "Simon?" I say questioningly. Before either of us can say anything else, I see a flash of red hair behind Simon and then a hand on his arm. The hand pushes him aside and the green eyes that are exact copies of mine land on Jace. She smiles softly to him and then she looks to me. She stands there smiling at me for a second and then all of the blood drains from her face.

"Mom?" I say cautiously and my voice somehow comes out a little shaky on the tiny word. I see another person then step into view behind her and I suddenly know that he is a werewolf. 'This must be Lucian that Father talked so much about' my brain quickly tells me. He was really jealous of Jocelyn and his friendship. "I think I stood up too fast." my mom says with a very weak voice and then her pupils blow wide just as her lips turn white. She passes out right then and Lucian catches her before she can hit the floor.

"Mom!" I shout out and then push Simon aside and step into the apartment. Lucian looks up to me with huge wide blue eyes in complete shock as I crouch down in front of her. I pull out my stele and Lucian immediately grabs the hand that it is in. "Don't touch her." he says to me. His voice is a little unfriendly and stern and I glare at him. Jace steps forward then and says, "Take your hands off of her." to Lucian with a slightly scary voice.

"I am just going to give her an iratze." I tell Lucian and then jerk my hand out of his. He seems to decide not to fight me again, smartly, and I put the tip of the stele to her collarbone where the top of her floral shirt is unbuttoned. When I am done, I sit back on my feet and watch as her eyelids begin to flutter a little. After another ten seconds, her eyes open fully and look up to Lucian who has her head in his lap when she suddenly catches a glimpse of me. Her eyes snap quickly to me and lock with mine. "Um," I say unsurely and tuck my hair behind one of my ears, "hey, Mom. Long time, no see."

She never takes her eyes off of mine as she silently sits up slowly and is right in front of me on the floor. One of her hands cautiously comes up and she touches my face gently. "Clary?" she says in almost a whisper. I just sit there as I feel tears well up in my eyes. A couple of more seconds pass before one of them spills over and I am transported back to when I was five and all I need is for my mom to hold me to make everything better. I throw my arms up and wrap them around her neck as I start to cry and pull her tightly against me. "Mom." I say in a choked voice and then I feel her arms wrap around me. I nuzzle my face into her neck and hair and I feel her hand come up to the back of my head and hold me there. "Oh my God, Clary. It's you." she says in a shocked voice as she starts to squeeze me tightly.

I shut my eyes tight as the tears fall and soak the shoulder of her shirt. "Mom." I say again and it seems like that is the only thing I can manage to get out of my mouth. It also happens to be the same word that I haven't allowed myself to truly say since I was five years old. All I can think now is how amazing it feels to say it and it actually mean something again.

* * *

 **Tears!**

 **A special thanks to for always reviewing! You are awesome! I tried to get you in the original mentions but your name somehow got cut out. If you go back and look, the sentence where I thank ya'll for reviewing starts with a comma. Somewhere in between me writing you name and posting it, it got cut out somehow.**

 **Also, if you wanted an idea for Clary's date dress with Jonathan, I looked up what I was thinking when I wrote the description. 'Don't Tell Em Dark Green Bodycon Midi Dress' by Lulus and Nasty Gal Moto Zip Crop Jacket for her jacket.**


	10. Chapter 10

I am holding onto my mom for dear life as the tears fall freely from my face. I can feel that my shoulder is becoming wet from her tears as well. About another thirty seconds passes before her arms loosen around me. I pull back and sit up as I open my eyes and wipe the tears off of my face. She does the same thing as her hands come to cup both sides of my face. She looks at me for a second and then a huge smile spreads across her face. "You look so much like me." she says wistfully and then laughs a little.

I let out a tiny laugh of my own and then wipe away the few tears that have escaped. "Dad always said that I look just like you."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say. The smile on her face completely disappears as she seems to come back down to reality. She drops her eyes from mine and then I look behind her to see Lucian putting his glasses back on his face. His cheeks are wet like he was crying, but I can't be sure. I look back to her face and she looks down at her hands in her lap. "Mom," I say pleadingly, "I am so sorry. I didn't know any better." I say to her.

She looks back up to me with a confused look on her face and says, "What are you talking about?"

"When he took me. I didn't know." I say looking worriedly at her. She has to know that I am sorry. "He told me that he was my father and that we were going to go surprise you because you thought he was dead. I didn't know that he would never let me see you again. If I did know, I wouldn't have gone with him." My eyebrows are pushed together with worry of her rejection that I am afraid will come from her. "I am so sorry, Mom. You have to know that."

She smiles gently at me and then brushes some hair out of my face. "I don't blame you, Clary." she says softly to me. "You were just a child."

"So you're not mad at me?" I ask sounding very worried.

"Of course not, Clary." Her tone is reasurring and I let a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth. "But I do have one question." she says and then her face turns serious. "What are you doing here now?"

I instantly look up to Jace who is still just inside the threshold of the door and he gives me a small nod of encouragement before he speaks. "Can we come in?" Jace asks her and she looks over to him as if just remembering that he was here. "As comfortable as the floor looks, the conversation she wants to have with you will be a long one and everyone will probably be more comfortable sitting in chairs."

"And who are you?" she asks him; her voice a little indignant.

"I am Clary's boyfriend." he says and then looks at me with a small smile. She looks back to me and I look to her waiting for her response. "Okay." she says and then starts to stand up with help from Lucian's hand. I see a hand come right in front of my face and realize that Jace is offering to help me up from the floor. I take his hand and stand up as I notice someone standing behind me. I turn to see Simon, who I had completely forgotten about, looking at me with a look of shock. "Are you the Simon that was my best friend when we were kids?"

The corner of his mouth turns up in a little smile as he says, "Are you the Clary that I saw talking to your imaginary father and then I watched magically disappear as you walked away on the playground?"

I smile widely and laugh a little. Simon is a mundane and wouldn't have been able to see Father who was glamoured that day. "That's me." I say with a smile and then he smiles widely back at me and then suddenly hugs me. His arms come around me and I lightly hug him back for a second. He pulls back and holds me at arms length and looks me up and down. "I am just so glad that I am not crazy. Everyone said that I was crazy when I said you just disappeared right in front of my eyes."

"That is because my father was glamoured."

"What does that mean?" he asks questioningly. I thought Mom would have told Simon about the shadow world, but I guess she didn't. "Well, it's hard to explain." I say and look nervously to Jace and then back to Simon. "So you really were with your father the whole time? No one believed Jocelyn when she said that."

I give him a small nod and purse my lips a little at the mention of that. I can see from the corner of my eye that my mom has tensed at the mention of Father and I look over to her. "Can I..?" I ask and then motion towards the living room. She nods her head and then starts to move towards the living room with Lucian staying put and waiting for Jace and I to start moving. I can tell he still doesn't trust us and would rather not have his back turned to us. I start to follow mom and feel Jace's hand lightly on the small of my back as he follows behind. I hear Lucian shut the door and then two sets of footsteps follow behind us.

The first set are light and purposeful. They are obviously Lucian's. The second set are heavier and more clumsy and I immediately know they are Simon's. Apparently he never grew out of his awkward clumsy phase he was in when I was taken.

The place opens up as we enter the living room and I look around to see that pretty much nothing has changed. I smile a little as I see the same tan comfortable couch and look around the corner to where my room was. The door is open and I see that my bed is gone and has been replaced with an art studio. For some reason, that bothers me more than it probably should. Knowing that she replaced all of my stuff and bed and things with art supplies tugs a little at my heart.

I tear my eyes away and sit down on the tan couch and Jace sits down next to me. He reaches over and grabs my hand and pulls it into his lap. I almost pull it back when I remember that I am supposed to be madly in love with him. So much so, that I ran away from my evil-doer father and (according to Father) my psychotic brother.

I look across the coffee table and look at my mother as she sits on the mis-matched floral love seat directly in front of us and take a deep breath. She looks up at me and the look on her face is one I can't read. It looks like she wants to smile and hug me and cry with me, but at the same time, her face is tight and guarded and she looks like she is waiting for the other shoe to fall. So, I start off with what she is probably worried about. "Valentine isn't here and he doesn't know that I am either." I say quickly.

She looks at me like she doesn't believe me and I reiterate it. "I ran away with Jace." I say and look to him sitting next to me on the couch. "Father is..." I say and look down at Jace and I's hands, "not a good person." I look back up to her and I can tell that she sees that I truly mean that. That I believe that he is a bad person, which I do.

"I know." she responds and Lucian puts an arm around her shoulder. I briefly wonder if they are together and then push it aside as I have more important things to worry about. "That is why I ran and hid from him. I knew that he was crazy for power and would do anything to get it. Even destroy my life and your life to get it."

I take a deep breath and look back at her. "And he hasn't changed at all." I tell her somberly and Jace gives my hand a tight squeeze. I don't know if it is meant to be comforting or if he wants me to get on with the 'story'. Probably the latter. "He was...difficult to grow up with." I tell her with a grave face. "Always demanding that I be better and quicker and smarter. Never being good enough and never showing me anything close to real fatherly love. The kind of love that you gave me."

She brings a hand up and wipes away a tear that escaped her eye and then puts her hands back in her lap. "When I met Jace, here," and I look over to him and we smile gently at each other as I finish my sentence, "I knew that I couldn't stay with him any longer." I look back to my mom and she is studying the both of us intensely. "He and Jonathan helped me escape. I haven't exactly been allowed to go out in public a lot growing up. I can count on two hands how many times I was allowed to go in public before I left."

Mom's face grows serious and she suddenly leans forward towards me and says, "Did you just say Jonathan?" she asks and I can hear the surprise in her voice mixed with a ton of other emotions that I can't pick out all at once. Jace gives my hand a tight squeeze because I have gone radically off script. Jonathan is supposed to be scary and undoubtedly a villain in my story, but I don't care. I can't do that to Jonathan. He deserves better after all of the progress he has made and all of the hard decisions to be good that he has to make everyday that go against his nature.

I square my shoulders and look her straight in the eye. "Yes. Jonathan. Your son." My voice is defensive and stern. "The one you rejected." I feel like I have to defend him now against whatever she may think of him.

"So he for sure didn't die in the fire." she asks me and I shake my head no. "He is alive and well." I tell her and Lucian actually looks genuinely surprised by this news. Mom looks a little less shocked. "I wasn't sure." she says as she sits back and her eyes drift off. She looks like she is somewhere else and remembering something that happened long ago. It is quiet for a minute and I lean forward to speak again.

My voice is confident and full of fevor when I speak. "He's not what you think he is, Mom." I tell her and she snaps back into reality and looks directly at me. "He _is_ different, but he is not purely evil like you probably think. I have helped him over the years find his humanity. He can love, although he doesn't love easily, he does have the ability. He loves me and I love him. He is my brother and we are all each other has had in the hell that Father created. He has protected me more times than I can count."

Mom's brows are furrowed in deep thought as she listens to me so I decide to continue. I pull my hand out of Jaces and place then in front of me in my lap as I scoot to the edge of the couch. "He struggles everyday, but with my help, he has managed to be okay. More like everyone else. If he didn't have me there growing up, I am positive that I wouldn't be saying these things about him. He would be cold, hard, and unfeeling. But he _did_ have me there with him. To teach him how to love and be kind and understanding. I am not saying that these things come naturally to him or are easy for him, but he does practice them with me. I keep him sane and he does the same for me. You have to believe me."

She sits back against the cushions of the couch and seems to take what I said into consideration. I know Jace is probably completely lost right now. He has no idea what Father did to me or Jonathan or even himself with our blood. Mom brings her hand up and touches her mouth in an unconscious gesture I vaguely remember her doing when she was thinking. Lucian looks to her and he looks like he wants to say something but is unsure if he should. After a few seconds, he does. "Maybe you were wrong, Jocelyn." She looks over to him and then back to me and studies me for a second. "So he can be taught to love and to care?"

I smile just a little. "Yes. He can. It's not easy for him but he does have the ability to love and to care for something other than himself." I smile a little bigger now. "I wish you could see him." I say a little excitedly. "You would be so proud of him at how well he has coped with it."

She doesn't smile back but looks at me more closely. "Is he here?" she asks cautiously.

"No. He's with Father still."

"Is there a chance I could maybe see him?"

This time, my smile does falter. "Maybe one day." I tell her and her face falls from the slightly expectant look she has on her face. "He has always felt betrayed that you rejected him from the day he was born because he was just a baby."

She seems to take in this information like someone would take in learning new subject. Her face is more logical than emotional as we talk about him and for some reason, that pisses me off. Her face shifts then as she sits forward a little. "You still haven't told me why you are here?" she asks and whatever expression was on my face gets washed away and replaced with the hurt that I feel when she says that. I know that there _is_ a reason why I came here but at the same time, I really _did_ just want to see her again. Yes, I was terrified like I still am, but all I have wanted to do since the day Father took me is see her again.

I sit back and Jace wraps his arm around my shoulder. "I just...I thought maybe we could have a relationship. Now that I am no longer with Dad." I look back to Jace and he gives me a small smile of encouragement and I look back to her. "I have wanted to come back since the day he took me, I just didn't know how. I know you are probably really skeptical of me coming back but...I _missed_ you, Mom." My voice cracks a little on the last part and I kind of hiccup the next breath in. "The first few days after he took me were horrible." I allow myself to go back to that horrible time. "I would cry and cry for you and at first, Father was nice. He would hold me and comfort me and tell me everything was okay. But he eventually got tired of that. After the first couple of days, he would get angry with me and..." I look down at my hands in my lap that are gripping each other tightly, "then he started to hit me when I wouldn't stop crying. I would go into Jonathan's room at night and at first he would tell me to get out." I let a little laugh escape my mouth at the memory of his little angry six year old face. "Then, after a few days, he let me climb into bed with him and we would sleep together. I think he let me stay the first night just so I would shut up and stop crying." I smile and let out another laugh. "But one day, when I was crying after father hit me for dropping a sword, Jonathan came over to me and hugged me. It was the first time he showed empathy towards anyone or anything."

My smile completely leaves my face as the memory of what happens next washes over me. "So he punished Jonathan for comforting me." I look up to mom then and her hand is covering her mouth and her brows are furrowed as she listens. It looks like she is slightly scared of what I am saying and what I am about to say. "He took him to the basement and chained him up... and whipped him with demon metal. He had just turned seven the day before."

Lucian, Mom, and even Jace suck in a startled breath. Jace sits up just a little, still with his arm around my shoulder, and looks pointedly at me. "Is that what those scars are all over his back?" I nod grimly and then his brows furrow with disgust and he leans back against the couch. "I didn't know what that was. I mean, there isn't one part of his back that isn't scar tissue."

"Like I said, I couldn't stay there anymore." I tell her as another tear escapes her face.

She wipes it away and moves her hand away from her mouth. She looks a little scared and unsure and I realize she wants to ask me something. "Did...did he ever do that to you?"

I shake my head no. "He tried to, once." I tell her and she visibly flinches. "But Jonathan stepped in the way and took the hits for me. Father actually whipped him twice as much because he disobeyed him and didn't allow him to whip me. After that, he would threaten to whip Jonathan if I messed up or disobeyed him and he would threaten Jonathan that he would whip me if he disobeyed him or he messed up somehow." I take a deep breath and look at Lucian's angry face. "He used our love for each other against us."

"Stop." Mom says and then she stands up with a small hiccup of breath and turns and leaves the room hurriedly and heads for the kitchen. Lucian stands up quickly and follows her. I bring my hands up to my face and rub it for a second. "He sounds like a monster." a deep voice says from a little behind me and to the left. I turn around quickly and see Simon standing in the corner of the room with an angry look on his face. I had completely forgotten he was still here. "I can see why your mother ran." he adds on and I turn around and sag against the couch.

"Can you give us a minute." Jace says and I realize he is talking to Simon. After a second, I hear his clumsy shuffle of feet leave the room and Jace sits up and turns to look at me. "What are you doing, Clary?" he asks in a slightly accusatory tone. "I couldn't lie about Jonathan." I tell him as I look into his eyes. "I just couldn't. He has already been through too much and I would be doing him a great injustice if I were to tell her what he wanted me to tell her." My voice is pleading with him to understand.

He furrows his brows together for a moment and then seems to make up his mind. "Okay." he says after a minute. "I understand. I don't blame you either." he says as he sits back in his spot next to me. "What Father did...its inexcusable. But there is something I don't understand." Jace looks at me and I turn my head and look at him. "Why did your mother think he was evil when he was born? What you were saying, it makes sense but then again, it doesn't. I knew that there was something different about Jonathan, but I have no idea what it could be."

I look away from him and down at my hands in my lap. I don't know if I should tell him about me and Jonathan and him. I want to, but Father would be unbelievably furious. Actually, he already will be when he finds out that I went off of his carefully thought out 'script'. You know what, _fuck_ him. I have let him control every aspect of my life for way too long. He certainly doesn't deserve the loyalty that I have shown him. I know that Jonathan and I are planning to take the Clave away from him when he finally takes it over, but who says we have to wait till then? I look back up to Jace who is still looking at me expectantly like he is waiting for me to tell him what the deal is with Jonathan. "I will tell you later." I say lowly to him. "It actually involves me and you too."

"Me?" he says incredulously.

"Like I have said," I tell him, "there is a lot you don't know about me and about yourself, for that matter."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he whispers almost sounding angry and then I hear footsteps coming back out and into the living room. "Later." I say under my breath and Jace quickly leans back and puts his arm around my shoulders.

Mom comes back into the living room with a tear soaked tissue with Lucian following closely behind and instead of sitting in her previous spot on the love seat across from me, she comes and sits down beside me on the couch. She positions her body to face mine and I mimic her actions. I turn my torso and legs to face her direction and Jace takes his arm from around my shoulders. She reaches out and takes my hands into hers and the contact almost makes me cry.

I look up to her and meet her eyes as she looks deeply into mine. "I am so sorry, baby." she says with a sniffle. Her chin starts to shake a little with her effort not to cry and her hands squeeze mine gently. "I am so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you."

"And Jonathan." I add on a little upset that she didn't.

"And Jonathan." she says and she looks a little mad at herself for not saying his name at first. "I should have been there to protect the both of you from him. I shouldn't have pushed Jonathan away like I did. I should have given him a chance." She drops her eyes from mine and looks down looking a little ashamed. "If what you are telling me is true about Jonathan, then I will never forgive myself for leaving him behind, even though I thought he was probably dead."

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly and she looks back up to me with a small smile. "I really am so happy to see you." she says as one of her hands leaves mine and she places it on my cheek. "I have dreamed about this day for over a decade. I always hoped that you would maintain your sense of right and wrong after living with Valentine for all of these years. I worry that he has corrupted your way of thinking."

She drops her hand from my face and I take another deep breath. "He tried and I managed to fool him for a long time." I tell her as she hangs onto every word. "He still wants to rid the world of downworlders and put himself in charge of the Clave." I glance at Lucian who doesn't seem to flinch at my words and then back to my mom. "But Jonathan and I don't feel the same way that he does about them. We never have."

She looks over to Lucian like she is worried about him and then back to me. "Is that part of the reason why you left?"

"It is one of them." I tell her and then feel Jace's hand on my back like he is comforting me. "I honestly just couldn't take any of it anymore. He was trying to marry me off to an influential family so I could strengthen his 'relations', as he says, and make the circle stronger. He wasn't letting me have a say in it. The first guy actually tried to grope me in the first five minutes of meeting. Jonathan saw and stabbed him in the hand for it. And then there are Father's sick experiments." I say and I shiver a little at the thought of them. My face falls and becomes very serious as does my voice. "He kidnaps downworlders and experiments on them."

Lucian stiffens a little where he is standing beside Mom and looks intensely at me. His face is tight and slightly angry but is more inquisitive than anything else. "What kind of experiments?" she asks and I swallow hard. "For example," I say as I drop my eyes for second to gather my strength as the memory of the sight of the poor vampire comes flooding back. "he once kept a vampire for five years and would immerse him in holy water and watch and see how long it took for him to grow his skin back."

"My God." Lucian says and mom's face turns angry as her lips purse tightly and I decide to continue. "He repeated this process continually for those five years. He starved him to see if it had any effect on him and then he overfed him blood to see how that would help. But he never stopped immersing him in the water. The moment he was healed, he would dunk him back in."

"Why didn't you help him?" Lucian says accusingly and I look over to him.

"Because when he took me and showed me his 'experiments', he blindfolded me so I wouldn't know where we were going." I say defensively. "Most of what I know about his experiments are from the journals that Father writes endlessly in. Jonathan and I take them and read them when he isn't home. And anyway," I say sounding angry, "when he wrote in his journal that he was going to move the vampire to a new place, Jonathan went and gave him a stake to kill himself with because he knew where _that_ place was. It was the kindest thing he could do for him. If he were to set him free, Father would have immediately become suspicious and eventually found out that it was Jonathan who gave him the stake that he killed himself with and know that we had read his journals." I look back to my mother then and I am sure my face is defensive. "We did what we could without getting caught."

"I am sure you did." Mom says as she shoots Lucian a quick glance. I look over to him and he looks at me. "I am assuming you are Lucian." I say to him. We haven't exactly been introduced yet. "You were Father's parabatai before you became a werewolf."

"A werewolf!" I hear Simon shout from the hallway. We all look over to see him come into view with a very shocked look on his face as he looks at Lucian.

"Simon," mom says sounding exasperated as she pinches the bridge of her nose, "I told you to go home."

"There was _no way_ I was leaving when my long lost childhood friend shows up out of the blue and then burns her mother's skin with some pencil thing and then you start talking about demons and vampires..." he looks at Lucian and points his finger at him, "and are you really a werewolf?"

Lucian stands up and walks over to him with a very fatherly look on his face and puts his hand on his shoulder. "If I promise to tell you everything, will you leave and come back for dinner?"

Simon looks like he wanted to protest but Lucian levels his eyes at him and then he turns around as he says, "You are _so_ telling me everything at dinner."

They disappear around the corner and mom turns around to face me with a tiny amused smile on her face. "Why is he here?" I ask her sounding very confused. Her smile gets even bigger then. "He came back two times a week after your father took you to check on me. He said that he didn't want me to be lonely. Simon would come over and show me his comic books and play board games with me. I could never really get rid of him." She chuckles a little as she looks like she is thinking about the past.

"Well I am glad that you had him." I say as Lucian comes back into the room. Mom looks over at him as he runs his hand through his dark brown hair. "We are going to have to answer a whole lot of questions." he says with a slightly worried and overwhelmed look on his face. She laughs at the expression and her whole face lights up when she does. When she looks back down, she looks past me and at Jace who has remained uncharacteristically quiet. "Since we are doing introductions now, what is your name?"

I turn my body back and look at Jace as he sits forward a little. "I'm Jace Wayland." and he offers his hand out to shake hers.

"Wayland?" she asks sounding a little hesitant as she shakes his hand.

"Yes." he says shortly and then pulls his hand back. "My father was murdered by circle members when I was ten and then I was sent to live with the Lightwoods who run the New York Institute."

Mom and Lucian look at each other as she says, "Maryse and Robert."

"That's them." Jace says with a slightly defensive voice. He loves the Lightwoods dearly and doesn't want to hear anyone talk bad about them, like I am sure he thinks that my mom wants to by her reaction. "I was raised along with their three kids."

She looks back to him and smiles a little. "How is little Alec? Him and Jonathan are the same age and would play together when they were babies."

"He isn't so little anymore." he says and her face falls just a little.

"No, he wouldn't be, would he?"

I look up to Lucian and make eye contact with him. "So, I'm right, aren't I? You're Lucian."

He nods his head and says, "You can call me Luke."

"Okay, Luke." I say and give him a tiny smile that he returns.

"So," mom says as she looks back to Jace, "how long have you known my daughter?"

Jace then looks to me and smiles softly. "It seems like it has only been a week, but in reality, we met about three months ago." I narrow my eyes at him infinitesimally at his own little joke about how long we have known each other and look back to my mom.

"If Valentine never let you out of the house, then how did the two of you meet?" she asks with a little doubt in her voice.

"He never let me go out in public." I tell her as clarification. "He let me have friends that he approved of. They were all circle member's kids of course. But I had snuck out when I met Jace. My friend was having a party in Allicante and Jace was there. And no, I know what you are thinking." I look pointedly at her. "The Lightwoods are _not_ still part of the circle. Jace just happened to be invited by someone else and came as her date. He had no idea about the circle."

She looks a little relieved when I say that and seems to relax a little. "So, are you two serious?" she then asks getting to the point. I look back to Jace who has a soft smile on his face and turns his eyes to mine. "I have never felt so strongly about anyone, ever." he says with surprising fervor. Jace is really good at this pretending to be in a relationship thing.

I give him a small smile as I think I would have done if we were really in a real relationship and then turn back to see my mom studying us."And he was the one to help you get away from your father?"

"Yes. He and Jonathan helped me." Jace reaches out and takes my hand. "Jonathan found a warlock to put a kind of block on me so Father couldn't find me. And Jace, he helped hide me for the past month. I think he suspects that I am with Jace so we have been moving around a lot and are staying in a hotel instead of the Institute with his family."

"Well if you are hiding from him," Mom says with a slight furrow of her brows, "then why did you come here? He knows where I live. Aren't you afraid that he will come looking for you here?"

I look down at my hands and Jace's other hand comes up to rub my back in a show of comforting me. "Because I wanted to see you." I turn my face back up and look at her. "I have wanted to see you since the day he took me. I wanted you to know that I was alive and that I was okay and that he didn't win. I am not a monster like him." My voice is full of the truth and honesty of my words. Most everything I have said to her has been the truth. The only thing that I have lied to her about is my relationship with Jace. I may have omitted a few things, albeit very important things, but everything I have said has been from the heart and exactly what I have felt for the past almost fourteen years.

She looks at me and starts to smile. I can see tears forming in her eyes as she reaches up to touch my face. I unconsciously lean into her hand and bring one of mine up to hold it to my face. "I missed you so much, Mom." I say and she gives me a full smile. She pulls me to her and hugs me tightly and I do the same. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and close my eyes tightly as I lose myself in her embrace.

Everything about her is familiar and I find it hard to believe that I ever forgot anything about her. She radiates love and warmth and everything Father never did. Jonathan did do that somewhat in his own way, but never like this. I can't believe that I have made it so long without feeling such unconditional love. The feeling is so overwhelming and I squeeze her a little tighter to me.

I don't think I can do this. I don't think I can get the cup from her and give it to Valentine. It would destroy her and I could never have a relationship with her. Now that she is right in front of me and holding me, there is nothing I want more than to have her in my life. I want Jonathan to forgive her and for him to get to know her. I know that that will be an unbelievably long process, but with help from me, I think he would be able to do it. He needs more people in his life to love him and support him and so do I. What I don't need is a power hungry, egotistical, narcissistic, sick and twisted mass murderer to order me around.

There has to be another way to do this. There has to be a way for Jonathan and I to do this without Father's help and have Mom in my life. I can't take it from her and give it to him. I know that the Clave has to be rebuilt from the ground up to get rid of outdated and completely unfair policies and I want to help do it. I don't feel like my mother should have to hide because she doesn't want to be a part of the Clave. Usually, they would strip her of her runes and toss her out to fend for herself since she decided to leave and that is monstrous. I don't feel like if you fall in love with mundane, you should have to chose between them and being Nephilim if your spouse doesn't want to drink from the Mortal Cup. I think that the downworlders should have a seat on the council so they can represent themselves instead of us making decisions without consulting them and then enforcing whatever new law that we have come up with. There are so many things that need to be changed and I know that Jonathan and I can do it.

I pull back and look at her in the eyes and she leans forward and gives me a lingering kiss on my forehead like she used to when I was little. I open my mouth to say I want to have a relationship with her more than anything when the phone that Jonathan gave me lets out a loud ring. My Mom and I jump a little and we both let out a little laugh. I reach into my pocket and pull it out and look back up to her and say, "It's Jonathan." Her eyes widen a little and she freezes for a second before I continue. "I have to take this." I tell her and then stand up and start to head for the hallway. I swipe the screen to answer it and bring to my ear. "Hello."

" _Hey babe. Sorry I couldn't talk earlier_." Jonathan says on the other end of the line and I smile when I hear his voice.

"That's okay." I tell him as I step out onto the landing of the apartment and shut the door. "It's just so good to hear your voice. I miss you so much." My voice is slightly sad and I hope he can tell that I mean that.

I can hear the smile on his lips as he says, " _I miss you too._ " There is a pause for a second before he speaks again. _"So how'd it go? Did you meet Jocelyn yet?"_

"I am actually at her apartment right now." I say as I look back to the door.

 _"You're there right now?_ " he asks in surprise.

"Yeah. I stepped out onto the landing of the apartment so I could talk to you."

 _"Did she know it was me calling?"_ I know he is concerned about me telling her the lies that father wanted me to tell about him.

"Jonathan, I completely went off script." I tell him nervously.

 _"What do you mean 'you went off script'?"_ he asks with concern lacing his voice.

I bite the inside of my cheek nervously for a second and then answer him. "I couldn't lie about you." I tell him quickly. "I just _couldn't do it_. I couldn't tell her that you were the monster that Father wanted me to make you out to be. You have come too far and worked too hard to be better for me that I couldn't do you the injustice of lying about how wonderful I think you are." I really hope he isn't mad at me. I don't think I can do this without him.

The other end of the line is quiet for a while and I get a little scared. "Please don't be mad at me, Jonathan." I say worriedly. _"I'm not mad."_ I hear him say and I let out the breath I was unconsciously holding. _"I am just surprised. What did she say when you told her whatever you told her?"_

"I just told her the truth about you. That you can love. That you protected me when we were growing up and that you still do. I told her that while it may be hard for you, that you do practice the softer emotions. That with my help, you haven't turned into the monster that Valentine wanted."

 _"I don't know about that, Clary."_ he says unsurely. I hate that he doubts himself like he does. It is because of Father constantly telling him that he is incapable of love and that he will only destroy whatever he touches.

"Well I _do_ know, Jonathan." I say earnestly. "I know you, better than anyone, and I know that you _do_ love me. I know that you would do anything for me. I see it in your eyes when you look at me. You are so amazingly strong because you fight against what Father made you everyday, and you _win._ " It is quiet for a few seconds. "I love you, Jonathan. Always have and always will. There is nothing you can do about it. And I know that if you gave Mom a chance, that you would be able to have a relationship with her. It may not be perfect or like other mother/son relationships, but I think you should at least try to forgive her."

 _"I don't think I will ever have enough compassion to forgive her."_ he says flatly and I completely understand where he is coming from.

"Okay, then. Maybe just be cordial with her." I offer. "Tolerate her presence for me. Maybe after a long while, things can start to change."

 _"What does this mean for Father's plan?"_ He asks and I know he is just wanting to change the subject.

"I am not sure yet, but I know that I don't want to give the Mortal Cup to him." I say quickly. "I think we need a new plan. One where we take the cup and reform the Clave."

 _"I have been saying that we could do that but you shut me down every time I bring it up."_

"I know, I know. I don't think we should talk about this right now." I look back up to the door to make sure no one is listening. "Can you get out of the house tonight? I want to talk about this in person."

 _"Yeah. I still have some of those sleeping pills. Meet me by the creek?"_

"I can't wait to see you." I say excitedly. "How does 3:30 a.m. your time sound?"

 _"Sounds perfect."_

"I am going to kiss you _so damn hard_." I tell him with my sexy voice.

 _"And I am going to let you."_

"I love you." I put all of the love I feel for him in my voice to let him know that I mean what I say.

 _"I love you too, baby sister."_ He says baby sister in the way that sends shivers down to my core.

"Bye." I pull the phone away from my ear and smile as I clutch it to my chest for a moment. I collect myself again and open the door and step into the apartment quietly. I can hear talking coming from the living room so I quietly make my way down the hall so I can eavesdrop.

"How did he seem when you met him?" I hear Mom ask someone and I go still around the corner.

"He was a little off putting but Clary seems to help him a lot." Jace says and I suddenly get the feeling that they are talking about Jonathan. "He was nice and made jokes with me. He is a pretty normal guy. I mean, you can tell that he is hiding something dark about himself, but I don't think he lets it control him."

"So you didn't get the feeling that he was evil? That he can't be normal?" I can hear the disbelief and surprise in her voice as she asks Jace this.

"Not really. Especially when he is with Clary. He is very protective of her. There were a few times when I would touch her and I was sure that he was going to kick my ass." Jace lets out a sort of nervous laugh before he continues. I am sure he is remembering the uncountable times that Jonathan put him flat on his back in training. "But she would look pointedly at him or touch his arm, I am assuming to reassure him that everything was okay, and he would instantly calm down and relax."

"Do you think he loves her?" Mom asks. I know that this is the question that she wants the answer to more than any other and I reach my ears out to hear his answer.

"I am sure he does." Jace says and I smile a little. "He looks at her like she hung the moon and stars just for him."

"You hear that?" Luke's voice cuts through the heavy silence and I am sure he is talking to Mom. "He can love."

"Then that makes me a horrible mother." Mom says sounding very remorseful.

"No it doesn't." Luke says in a comforting tone.

"Yes, it does." Her voice is hard and unrelenting in it's point. "I rejected my own son because I thought he was a monster when he was only an infant and I couldn't protect my daughter from her monster of a father. I failed every chance I was given to be a good mother."

I want to step in and disagree with her, but for some reason, I don't. Maybe it's because I _am_ angry with her for rejecting Jonathan before she even gave him a chance. Maybe it's because I am upset that she didn't tell me who I was and had a warlock erase my memory and that she didn't tell me I had a brother. She lied to me and told me my father was dead so when he found me, I didn't know any better and I willingly went with him. The crazy part is, I can't find it in myself to be completely mad or regret that I _did_ go with Father. Jonathan needed me. He probably needed me more than my mother did. I kept him from becoming a monster and I taught him how to love and gave him something to love in me.

Before anyone else can say anything, step forward into the living room and tuck my phone back in my pocket like I am just getting off of it. I look up and give a gentle smile as I look to my mom. "Sorry. We have to talk when we can. He can't always call because of Father."

"Why didn't he come with you then?" Mom's question is a good one, but one I am prepared for.

"He is staying behind to keep an eye on Father. To make sure he doesn't get too close to finding me. He also keeps me informed about what is going on and what he is doing. It can be very helpful because Father trusts Jonathan more than anyone else."

"Is he going to stay with him forever?" she asks. I can see in her eyes that she is still a little hesitant about the idea of me trusting Jonathan because I am sure she doesn't.

"No." I tell her as I walk a little further in the room. I go and sit back down in my spot in between Jace and my mom. "We are still working at getting him out of there. It is too dangerous for him to leave right now. Father would burn down the world to find Jonathan if he left. He knows too much and as I am sure you know, he doesn't like to give up what he thinks is his."

Mom shifts a little in her seat and pushes her hair behind her ear. She looks down at the coffee table and I can see the wheels turning in her head. She is thinking about something. "So, he is working with your Father for the circle?"

I straighten my back a little and when I speak, my voice is a little defensive. "It's not like he has ever had a choice _not_ to work with him. He is grooming him to be his successor, but like I said, Jonathan and I don't believe what he does. He has never harbored any ill will or feelings towards downworlders just like I haven't. Right now though, it makes more sense for him to be there and not with me. If we didn't have his help, then we would have been found a long time ago." I give Jace a quick glance and he offers me a quick smile.

When I turn back to face my mom, she is looking at Lucian. The way he is looking at her... "Are you two together?" I ask and gesture between them. This completely catches her off guard.

"What?" she asks and I can see a slight blush on her cheeks. I smile at this thinking about that she is where I got that trait from. "Me and Luke?" she looks back up to him quickly before looking back at me. "No. We are just friends."

I successfully raise one eyebrow, something I just mastered a few months ago, and look pointedly at her. "Really? You're _just_ friends?" My voice comes out very skeptical.

"Why does everyone have such a hard time believing that two adults can be friends if they are of the opposite sex?" she says indignantly back to me.

Years of being with Jonathan have washed away most of my filter and unfortunately for my mom, she is about to find that out. "Because of the way you look at him and he looks at you."

Luke, who is standing just beside the couch next to my mom, shifts his weight and looks incredibly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. My mom is turning a bright red and I can see that she is cursing her flushed skin by the look in her eyes. I get the same look too when my skin gives away how I feel. I absolutely hate it. "Well," I say as I look to Jace, "now that this is officially awkward, I think now would be a good time to catch up with my mom over some tea." I look back to my mom and see that her face has now dulled to a more subtle pink. "Do you have any?"

"Of course. Let me go put it on." She stands up and starts to walk out.

"As long as it's not Earl Grey. Jace hates bergamont."

"I do hate bergamont." Jace says somberly and I can't help but laugh at just how glum he sounds. I turn and see that his face is scrunched up tightly in a show of disgust and I laugh a little harder before I turn back to my mother. She is studying us and when she sees my smile, she gives me one in return. "Your laugh sounds just like it did when you were five." she says a little wistfully and then leaves the room.


	11. Chapter 11

**I wanted this chapter to be a little bit longer, but I decided to put up what I already have here. I am going to be pretty busy this weekend and am going to try and write as much as possible when I get the chance. It will probably be Sunday before I can get the next chapter up though. I know that is a long time for me so please, just bear with me and try to remember that I update a lot faster than most on this site so don't be mad at me. Love ya'll! I hope you enjoy the read.**

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Jace and I stay at Mom's apartment for another hour and then we make the excuse that we are jet lagged, which is somewhat true, and leave. We are coming back tomorrow morning to catch up some more. We talked about the short time Mom and I had together when I was a kid and relive the few memories I have of that time. She tells embarrassing stories of me picking my nose and trying to feed it Simon and Simon asking me to marry him and me accepting his proposal. Mom even jokes that Jace may have some competition in Simon for my hand and Jace lets out a huge laugh and then said he welcomed the challenge. It was all very comfortable and familiar to me.

As we are stepping back out and onto the sidewalk out in front, I am hugging myself as I smile wistfully at nothing in particular. I have thought about the day that I would see my mom again for almost fourteen years and now I have. I feel like a piece of me has been put back. It's still a little broken with lots of cracks but I can feel it starting to glue back together slowly.

I stop after a few steps back in the direction of the hotel when I feel a light hand on my shoulder. I look up to see Jace smiling down at me. His hand is on my shoulder, holding me in place, and I smile back at him. "I did it." I say in almost a whisper. "I saw my mom again."

Jace's eyes light up a little as his smile gets a little wider. "You did. I told you you could do it and I can tell just by looking at you that you feel ten times better now that you did."

"I do feel better." I say and then I am overcome with joy. I jump up and down twice before I wrap my arms around Jace's neck. "I did it, Jace! I saw my mom again!" I shout. His arms slowly wrap around my waist like he is hesitant about hugging me (probably because he is uncomfortable with me throwing myself on him), and he holds me up as I giggle with excitement. I pull back and give him a kiss on his cheek and his eyes widen with shock. "You have been such a good friend, Jace. Thank you." I say to him and then give him another quick and chaste peck on his cheek and then pull away from him and turn in the direction of the hotel.

Man I wish Jonathan was here. Jace has been a good friend and all, but I would ideally rather have Jonathan here to celebrate with me. I wish I could throw my arms around his neck and kiss him till I couldn't breathe right now. If he were here, then this would have been the best day of my life so far. I am bringing my past together with my present and future and it all feels so good.

By the time I get to the corner, I look over at Jace who is watching me with the weirdest look on his face. It's like he is trying to figure out a really hard math problem while looking at a pretty picture. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?" I suddenly am worried that I might have a cliffhanger dangling. Maybe that is what is throwing him off. I reach up nervously and touch my nose to make sure it is clean.

"Something on your face?" he asks a little surprised. "No. Why would you ask that?"

"Because you were looking at me weird. Like you were confused or grossed out, yet intrigued or something."

He lets out a little nervous laugh and then looks both ways before grabbing my elbow and guiding me across the street. "I was only thinking that you handled yourself well."

"Thanks." I say as we step back up onto the curb.

"And now I am going to ask you what is your plan now?" Jace looks pointedly at me and I know he is talking about me going way off script.

I continue walking back towards the hotel as I try to figure out what to say next. I can feel Jace's eyes on me, waiting for me to come up with some brilliant plan. I know that whatever Jonathan and I will plan, he will have to agree to go along with it. He is in too deep now. The only problem is I don't know if when we tell him that we want to reform the Clave, if he will tell Father that we are planning on betraying him or if he will tell the Clave itself what we are planning. Jonathan would suggest just killing him, but I don't want that. I actually like the guy. He's a pretty decent friend. Not to mention, he is the only other one like me and with his skills coupled with ours, we would be that much more unstoppable.

But how do I get him to go along with us? I look over to him and he is still patiently waiting for my answer. "Not here on the street. Wait till we get back to the hotel room." He nods his head in understanding and we walk the rest of the way in a sort of loaded silence. The air has warmed considerably since this morning and so I slip my jacket off of my shoulders. My shirt dips a little low in the back, exposing a good bit of my back, and as I shove my hair to the front of one of my shoulders, I feel the sun hit my skin and start to warm it. I feel my jacket start to move and look over to see Jace pulling it from my grip.

"Let me carry that for you." he says and his voice is weirdly shaky. He then reaches up and I can feel his fingers on my upper back on my exposed skin. I look at him inquisitively as his fingers brush my skin down the length of the top of my spine and then he pulls his hand back and shows me a strand of my long red hair. "You had this on your back." He lets go of the hair and it blows away in the wind and I turn and look ahead of me again. 'Well that was weird' I say to myself as we turn on the street of our hotel and I see it in the distance.

When we reach the hotel, Jace opens the door for me and then we head straight for our rooms. I think I have everything I am going to say mapped out. I know that this conversation will be very important and I have to present it in just the right way.

When we get to our rooms, Jace pulls out his key and opens the door and motions for me to go in, barely leaving any room for me to walk by. I squeeze past him and the door, brushing my arm across his chest, and walk over to the bed. I hear Jace shut the door, rather than see him do it, and then he is standing in front of me. "Okay. We're in the room." he says flatly.

I look up to him and nervously bite the inside of my cheek. "You should probably sit down." I say to him gravely and his expression becomes a little more serious. When he makes no move to sit, I grab his wrist and pull him down to sit on the bed with me. I fold my legs indian style and scoot to the middle of his bed as he pushes onto it and scoots back and leans against the headboard. "Okay. I'm sitting now." he says expectantly and I take a deep breath. This is going to take a while.

I close my eyes for a second and take another deep breath before I open them again and see Jace's face looking at me questioningly. "Everything I said about Father to my mom was true. The beatings, the way he used Jonathan and I against each other, his vindictiveness, his experiments on downworlders...everything."

Jace's face twists into one of slight disgust and anger and he shifts a little uncomfortably. "But Father has a point." he starts to say. His voice is seriously lacking conviction when he speaks and I know that he is just reciting whatever father told him. Ten year old Jace was so excited and thankful to have his father back, that he wants to do whatever it takes to keep him there. I know he doesn't believe what Father does. I can see it in everything that he does. "The world doesn't need these demon diseases plaguing it."

"You know that is a load of shit just like I do." I say to him bluntly. He is a little caught off guard by the slightly shocked look on his face, but I continue anyway. "You know you don't believe that so just drop the act." He looks like he is going to say something as his mouth pops open slightly but then he suddenly shuts it as his jaw tightens. "That's what I thought." I say smugly and he narrows his eyes just a little at me.

"But what you don't know, Jace," I say in a much softer voice, "is that he didn't just experiment on downworlders." I can see confusion flit across his face for a second and then it turns a little more serious as he waits for me to continue. "I know you are confused about Jonathan and what my mom, Luke, and I were talking about. You have met him and I am sure you can tell that there is something different about him." Jace nods his head in answer so I continue. "Listen," I say hurriedly, "you have to swear on the Angel that you won't tell anyone what I am about to tell you about Jonathan. It's not something that he or I wants to get out. Some people would want to kill him if they knew. But in order for you to understand why I said what I said to my mom, then you will have to know the truth. And the truth involves you and me as well."

Jace looks at me hard and long as he debates whether or not he wants to swear upon the Angel. It is not something the Nephilim do lightly. After a moment of deep thought from Jace, he nods his head and then says, "I swear upon the Angel Raziel that I will never speak of what you are about to say to anyone other than you and Jonathan and those who already know the truth."

I notice he adds on a little at the end saying that he won't talk about it with anyone who doesn't already know the truth and I am okay with that. He will be able to confront Father this way which is what he deserves to be able to do.

"Jonathan was one of Father's first experiments." My voice is hard and solemn and Jace seems to pick up on this. All traces of playful Jace are gone and have been replaced with a more serious and business like Jace. "Father wanted to create the perfect shadowhunter. The strongest of our kind. One that would have powers beyond what the Angel gave us." I swallow past the lump in my throat and pray that Jonathan won't be mad at me for this. "So, when my mother became pregnant, instead of seeing it for the miracle that it was, he saw it as an opportunity. An opportunity that he couldn't pass up to experiment. So," I look to Jace seriously and he is hanging onto every word, "he summoned a greater demon and took it's blood."

"He summoned a greater demon?!" Jace says as he sits up a little. His voice is still fairly quiet but you can hear the shock and outrage in it.

I nod my head. "He did. He thought that the blood from a greater demon would help make the perfect shadowhunter. He thought that whoever drank the blood, would be able to control demons. He tried drinking it first, but it didn't work on him. It just made him sick. That is when he decided to give it to my pregnant mother." Jace's face turns tight and his lips turn into a hard line. "He dried it and sprinkled it into her food without her knowledge. It gave her terrible nightmares and she became depressed, but other than that, it had no real effect on her. But it did have an effect on the baby. The greater demon told my father that if he were to give it to his wife while she was still pregnant, it would change his child. The child would become stronger and faster and better in every way physically than any others; as I am sure you have noticed." Jace nods his head somberly and then I keep going. "The demon also told him that it would change him. That it would try and burn out his humanity. That he wouldn't have the ability to love and to care for anyone or anything but himself. That he would be ruthless and cunning; the best of both worlds as he would be part angel and part demon."

I stop for a second and push the hair that has fallen in my face behind my ears and fiddle with the pillow that I have pulled in my lap. "The more softer human emotions are hard for Jonathan to understand, but he gets better everyday. I already know that he can love and care for someone other than himself because he loves me. He protected me at great cost to himself countless times. He sacrificed for me in more ways than I can count. That proves to me that the greater demon was wrong." I look back up to Jace, who is still watching and listening to me with absolute seriousness. "And I think if it weren't for me, then he would have turned out to be an unfeeling sick monster. It took him a long time to let me into his heart but when he did, I saw the real Jonathan and I know that he isn't a monster. He is someone who just needs a little more guidance than others."

I stop and see that Jace has dropped his eyes and he is staring at something across the room, but not really seeing it as he is thinking deeply about something. His brows are furrowed in concentration and he is picking at one of his thumbs with his forefinger. I am assuming that that is a nervous habit of his. He does it a lot when he is stressed. After a few minutes, he turns his face back up to me and his face seems a little more at ease. "You said that this also involved me and you." he asks sounding almost accusatory. "How so?"

And here goes nothing. "When Jonathan was born and he had time to observe him, he saw that he would be difficult to handle. That maybe he had gone too far, so he decided to do something different for his next experiment." Jace seems to catch on to where I am going and he sits up a little like he wants to ask me something. I hold up my hand in a gesture for him to just wait and hear me out and he sits back just a little. "So instead of summoning a greater demon, he summoned an angel. Ithuriel to be exact."

I watch as Jace's eyes widen a little and his mouth opens like he wants to say something, but after a moment, he shuts his mouth and then furrows his brows in thought and gestures for me to continue. "He trapped Ithuriel here on earth because he wouldn't give him his blood willingly. Father then took it by force. He cut open Ithuriel's arm and took his blood. He then saw another opportunity to experiment when he found out that your mother, Celine Herondale, became pregnant with you."

"Wait." Jace says lowly. He brings his hand up to rub his face roughly before running his hand harshly through his hair. "Are you trying to tell me that he gave my mother Ithuriel's blood that he took by force?" When his eyes open and look at me, I can see the shock and despair in them. "That an angel was held against his will, then tortured, then stolen from all because Father wanted to know what the effects of extra angel blood would have on an unborn child?"

"That is exactly what I am telling you." I say as serious as I can and he looks like he has just had the shock of his life. I am sure he has after hearing the story I have to tell. "He dried it and mixed it in with a potion that he gave to your mother to take like vitamins. It had a wonderful effect on your mother. She was happier and more at peace and never got sick the way normal pregnancies would make a woman. My mother, who had been depressed since the birth of Jonathan, was next. She had seen that Jonathan was different and it scared her. She rejected him and was angry with Father because she knew he had done something to their child. She didn't know what exactly what he had done and was furious when he continued to say that he hadn't done anything. When he saw how happy your mother was when she started to take the angel blood, he decided to start giving it to my mother. And it worked for a while. She wasn't as depressed and seemed to be happier in their marriage. But what he didn't know was that my mother had become pregnant with me."

I let that last sentence hang in the air for a moment as I watch Jace's inquisitive face. "Haven't you ever noticed that you can run faster and jump higher and fight longer and harder than others? You have special abilities from Ithuriel's blood." I say to him.

Jace abruptly stands up and begins to pace slowly. "Maybe." he says a little dismissively. "I once jumped from the roof of a three story building and was fine. When Alec tried to jump after me, he broke both of his ankles."

"That is what I am talking about, Jace." I say with emphasis. "Father noticed that about you. How you were fast and strong and superior to everyone else your age. You were advanced and still are."

"And what about you?" Jace says as he stops his pacing. He looks at me a little wildly like he is on the brink of losing his shit. "I have seen you fight Jonathan and you are as fast as me."

I nod my head. "But that isn't the only ability that I have from the extra angel blood." I look up to him a little sheepishly but he is only studying me the same way that he was before I said that. I pull out my stele and stand up. I think the best way to tell him about my rune powers is by showing him. I walk over to him and reach to his waist. His eyes widen a little when I pull out one of his blades and twirl it in my hand before putting my stele to the handle. When I am done, I show him the accuracy rune that I made a few years ago. "Have you ever seen this rune before?" I ask him.

He picks up the blade and studies it for a minute. "That isn't in the Grey Book." he states in a very matter of fact tone. I smile a little at the 'know it all' look on his face before I take the blade back. "That is because it isn't in the Grey Book. I made it."

"That's impossible." He scoffs at me with a little smirk on his face. I am going to love wiping that smirk off his face. "It's not impossible, Jace. I have been making new runes since I was eight. This particular rune is what I call my accuracy rune. All I have to do is think about a particular something that I want to hit, and no matter where I throw it, it will always hit it's target."

I turn around and put my back to the room with a little smirk of my own. "Tell me to hit something in the room. Just pick something out."

Jace folds his arms across his chest and smiles his 'know it all' smile at me and then surveys the room for a second before settling on something. "There is a tiny piece of paper with the list of channels on it for the television on the desk by the window. I want you to hit that."

I turn around and see what he is talking about and then face back the opposite direction. "I would step away from me and out of the way if I were you." I say to Jace and he steps back and leans casually against the wall. I close my eyes and picture the tiny program and raise the blade. I pull my hand back and then snap it forward, letting the blade fly in the opposite direction of it's intended target and hear a quick breathy laugh as I open my eyes.

The blade is hurtling toward the hotel room door when it suddenly changes it's course and heads in the opposite direction, fast, and straight for the program. I don't even turn around to watch it hit it's target. I look at Jace with a wicked smile on my face as his features form into utter surprise. I hear it hit its mark and Jace's arms fall to his sides from where he had them folded across his chest and he pushes off of the wall to stand. His mouth falls open a little and then he looks to me with whole new eyes. He looks a little wary of me but at the same time, like he wants to worship at my feet. "I know." I say smugly. "I'm pretty awesome."

Jace then walks over to the blade and I turn to watch him pick it up from where it stuck in the desk. When he lifts it, the program is stuck to it. He pulls it off and tosses it to the floor as he looks more pointedly at the rune that I burned into the handle. "That was incredible." he whispers mostly to himself. He then looks up to me and I make a show of buffing my nails on my shirt. "How?" he says with wide eyes.

"I don't know." I tell him honestly. "Sometimes the runes come to me and others, I just have to think about what I want the rune to do and then I draw it."

"What else is there?" he asks excitedly as he walks quickly back to right in front of me. "I want to say that this," he points to the blade, "is my new favorite rune, but I don't know what else there is."

I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly as I say, "I can make people tell the truth and I can also make portals."

"You can make portals?!" he shouts in my face.

I lean back away from him a little as I squint my eyes. "Whoa, there. I am standing right here. No need to shout."

"But you said you can make portals."

"I can. I can also make people tell the truth with my truth rune." I raise my stele up and start to bring it to his arm. "Want me to try it on you?"

He steps away quickly looking panicked and I let out a loud laugh. "No thanks." he says worriedly and I laugh a little harder. "The look on you face was priceless, Jace. I have never seen anyone look so panicked before."

"That is because I am a mysterious man and that is part of what makes me so irresistible to women."

I continue to laugh as he looks at me with a small smile on his face. "And you're worried that if I know that you used to wet the bed that that will make me resistant to your charms?"

His mouth falls open a little and the smile that was on his face completely disappears. "How did you know that?" he says quietly and with embarrassment.

I just smile at him and step forward to pat his cheek quickly twice. "I told you, I know all about you." I say with my 'know it all' look on my face. "Father wrote down _everything_ that you did growing up."

I watch as his expression grows into a slightly horrified one before I walk past him and sit back down on the bed. When he turns around, he actually looks like he is scared of me now. "It's okay, Jace. I won't tell anyone." I have a smile on my face that is growing steadily against my will. "If you want, I can go and get Woobzie for you." Woobzie is Jace's stuffed bunny that he never wanted to let go of. Sort of like a security blanket that he never left the house or went to bed without. "I know you still keep him with you in your suitcase back at the mansion."

I now have a full blown wicked grin on my face and Jace narrows his eyes at me. "You had better watch yourself, Miss. Morgenstern." he says in warning.

"Or what?" I say with a challenge in my voice. "What are you going to do? Run and hide behind Woobzie?"

"That's it!" he shouts as he stabs the blade he is still holding into the dresser in the room and then lunges for me. I raise my feet up and get him in the stomach and keep him flying over me and onto the floor behind me as I let out loud laughter. "You should really stop before you get hurt." I tell him as he pops off of the floor like in a cartoon. He raises one eyebrow at me as he makes a funny face and I laugh. He is just about to try to lunge at me again when my phone rings.

I look across the room and find my jacket that Jace carried for me slung over the chair by the door. I hop up quickly and smile as I dig in my jacket pocket and pull out the phone. I am still smiling when I answer. "Hey!" I say a little out of breath from laughing so much.

 _"Hey baby sister."_ Jonathan says. _"Why are you breathing like that?"_

My breath is coming in slight pants and of course, he picked up on that. "Jace was making me laugh because he thought he could take me. Even though I kick his ass every time we spar."

"Not _EVERY_ time." Jace says loudly and I look back at him a give him a quick smile.

" _Is he still keeping his hands to himself?"_ Jonathan asks a little scarily. His tone is menacing and on the verge of sinister.

I roll my eyes even though he can't see me. "Yes, Jonathan. You have absolutely _nothing_ to worry about." I hold up my hand and motion towards my room to Jace to let him know that I am going there to talk and he gives me a small nod. I walk through the adjoining door that is already open and shut it behind me. "I'm alone now." I say into the phone. "What's up? Couldn't wait till tonight to see me?"

 _"I swear, if he touches you..."_ Jonathan grinds out through his teeth. Apparently he is still hung up on the whole Jace thing.

"Babe." I say softly and calmly into the phone. "You have nothing to worry about. I won't let him touch me. The only thing he has done is hold my hand when we were in front of Mom and that is only because of our story. It's _your_ touch I crave. Not his."

 _"I just hate not being there with you. To watch him and make sure he doesn't get any ideas."_

"Jonathan, I don't think you have anything to worry about." I tell Jonathan softly. "Jace is a big flirt, but it means nothing to him. He would flirt with a lamp post if there wasn't a girl around. I know he doesn't see me as anything other than the only girl around to flirt with. That doesn't mean that I am going to fall for it. I already am madly in love with my very hot, very sexy boyfriend."

 _"Is that what I am to you? You're boyfriend?"_ His voice has softened a little and I can tell that the storm has mostly passed.

"No. You are way more than that." I tell him flatly. "But I don't have a better word to describe you with...other than brother."

 _"Hmmm."_ I hear him say on the other end of the line. _"I like both of those titles. I also wouldn't mind you calling me your lover or one day, your husband."_ His voice has dropped low and is rough with deep and dark emotion.

"I like all of those too... _my lover._ " I drop my voice to where it is husky and pure sex. "Is that why you called me? To remind me that I am still yours, because I couldn't ever forget that. Especially after feeling your hands gliding over my bare skin."

 _"You need to stop talking like that."_ he says and his voice is barely above a whisper.

"And why is that?" I say innocently back to him.

 _"Because you are giving me a hard on in a restaurant."_

"Are you and father having a business dinner?"

 _"Unfortunately, yes."_ His voice has hardened slightly when he says that.

"I think we should tell Jace about everything." My voice is cautious and a little hesitant when I say this, but I have to push on. "Tell him about our blood and his and our plan to take over the clave from Father. I am pretty sure that I can convince him to help us."

 _"Clary, I don't know about that. That is pretty risky. Plus, what if he tells Father?"_

"I don't think he will. Not after I tell him what he did to him and to you and to his downworlders. Not to mention the fact that he still has Ithuriel hidden somewhere."

 _"Listen, I have to go now. I will see you soon."_ He is whispering by the time he gets the last word out.

I drop my voice low and sexy. "Love you, _big_ brother. Can't wait to get my hands on you."

I hear him groan and then the line cuts off. He must have had to hang up quickly so he wouldn't get caught. I let out a long breath and then lay back onto my bed. What a fucking day this has been. I lay there for a while before I roll back up to a sitting position and decide that I had better go check on Jace. Even though he was in a playful mood when I left out of there, the heaviness and seriousness of what I just told him is probably hitting him pretty hard now.

I walk over to the door and knock lightly on it twice before pushing it open. Jace looks up at me from the chair at the desk and I can see that he has been thinking about what I told him. "Now that the shock has worn off, how are you doing?" I ask him cautiously. I step into the room and sit down in the middle of his bed and face him by the window.

"I am just trying to let everything sink in." he says as he looks to me. His face is very somber and thoughtful and I kinda feel bad for him.

"I know it was a lot to take in. Especially finding out about yourself and what Father did. We have always been his experiments. Not his children."

Jace sits up and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees then as his face pulls together in muted anger. "It's just that, it all makes sense now. Why I have been so much better than everyone else my age. And to know that it is because Father trapped Ithuriel and tortured him...I don't know what to think now. A part of me hates myself because of it."

I am taken back by Jace's openness and his admission. He wears this mask of indifference all of the time that his words take me by surprise. "You shouldn't hate yourself, Jace." I tell him softly. "You should hate Father because he is the one that did this to us. Not to mention the fact that he still has Ithuriel trapped somewhere."

Jace's head snaps up and his eyes fly open wide. "He what?!"

I nod my head gravely. "Yep. He has never written down where he keeps him. It always just says 'the cellar'. Jonathan and I have tried to find him everywhere that him or I have ever known Father to keep his experiments. We have searched for years and have never found Ithuriel or any clue of where he could be. Father will visit him from time to time and tell him about what he has 'accomplished'," I use air quotes when I say that, "but Ithuriel never speaks to him and that infuriates him." I drop my eyes from his as the memory of what I read flood my mind. "You don't want to know what he does when he gets angry with Ithuriel." I say somberly.

I look back up to Jace who looks like he is about to throw up. "That is why we have to stop him." My voice is strong and filled with the conviction that I feel. "Jonathan and I have been planning for years. We can't let him get his hands on the Cup. He wants to make himself an army of shadowhunters that are loyal to him and kill all of the downworlders. He plans on just rounding up mundanes and forcing them to drink from the Cup without a vetting process to make sure they will live. He is going to kill thousands, maybe tens of thousands mundanes to get what he wants. The only way to stop him is from the inside."

Jace's face is one of confusion and frustration. I can see him thinking hard about what I have just said and I know that he is taking it seriously. "But he's my father." he says quietly, almost to himself. When I look at him, I can see the part of him that still very much love and respects him. Right now, in this moment, he is feeling what Jonathan feels on a daily basis. There are two sides of himself pulling him in two different directions. He can either to go along with Father's plan to kill and destroy or with mine and Jonathan's and save downworlders and mundanes from slaughter. He now has to pick which side to give into.

"No, Jace." I say calmly as I scoot to the edge of the bed closer to him. "He's not your father. Your father died in a vampire nest raid that _my_ father set up to get rid of him. He had started to doubt Valentine's ways and so he got rid of him. Your mother then was so grief stricken that she killed herself. _My_ father then cut you out of her dead body, not because he had a heart and wanted to save her unborn baby, but because he didn't want his 'experiment' to go to waste. That is who you think your father is."

His head is hung in his hands as I talked so I reached out and touched his shoulder. He looks up at me and I can see the hurt and despair in his eyes. "He is a monster that needs to be stopped." I say as gently as I can. I think if I were to talk normally, he would shatter. "And you, Jonathan, and myself are in the perfect place to do it. He will never see it coming. We have always been his puppets and gone along with everything he has ever said and done until now." I drop my voice even quieter to whisper, "Please, Jace. Help us. See that we are right."

His eyes are locked onto mine with intensity and I hope he can see how sincere I am. After a few seconds, I stand up. "I will leave you to think about it." I say and turn to walk away. I feel him catch my hand and I look back to him. He is looking up at me from the chair he is in with the strangest look on his face. "Don't go, Clary." he says lowly to me.

I shift my weight a little feeling a little uncomfortable with the way he is looking at me. "Okay." I move back to the bed and sit down on the edge of it where I was. He follows my movement and I can feel his eyes boring into me as I look out of the window to escape eye contact with him.

"I'll do it." Jace says suddenly. I look back to him and meet his eyes with mine and a tiny smile starts to pull at the corners of my mouth. "I'll help you and Jonathan. I'll do it for Ithruiel and my parents...and I'll do it for you. You are the only other one like me. We have to stick together."

The small smile then spreads into a soft smile as I hear what he is saying. "Thank you so much, Jace." I tell him earnestly. "I had a feeling that I could trust you."

"You, Clary, will always be able to trust me." Jace's voice is soft yet hard when he says this and I suddenly feel uneasy. The next thing I see is Jace's hand come up to my neck and his thumb rub along my jaw. Before I can lean away, he grabs hold of me and then his lips are on mine.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry it took me so long to update!**

 **I really was insanely busy this weekend and didn't get a second to myself until Sunday night...when I decided to watch the first episode of Stranger Things. All of my friends kept raving about it and so I decided to watch just ONE episode. Well, one turned into two, then three, and then I was binging on it. You know how it goes! All of my free time was taken up by it. It was awesome, by the way.**

 **Finally, here is the new chapter. I will do better, I promise.**

* * *

 _Before I can lean away, his lips are on mine._

For a split second, I am frozen with shock. This came out of nowhere. When I come back into reality, I feel his lips pressed against mine and the desperation in them. For just a fraction of a second, I feel something stir inside of me for him. I start to see a whole other future for myself, but I quickly shut it down.

Jonathan.

Jace is holding my face against his and I feel him slide out of his chair and kneel on the floor in front of where I am sitting on the bed. I put my hands on his chest as his tongue darts out and asks for entrance. I push gently against his chest and pull back away from his face. He reluctantly lets me go, but not far. He rests his forehead against mine and closes his eyes. I can see the vein in his neck pulsing rapidly and I can practically hear his blood rushing in his veins.

"Jace." I say quietly. "That kiss..."

He interrupts me and finishes my sentence. "...was incredible." The words come out in a rush of breath that someone lets out when they feel relief.

I lean my head further back and reach up and grab the wrist of his hand that is still on my neck and jaw and pull it away gently. "That kiss... can't happen again." I say to him. His eyes shoot open and I see hurt in his eyes. He so rarely lets down his walls that a part of my heart breaks for him. "I'm sorry, but I have a boyfriend." My voice is quiet and apologetic.

He immediately pulls his hand back to himself and pushes himself off of the floor. His hurt eyes dart away from mine and back to the desk chair he was just in. He sits down in the chair and runs his hand nervously through his hair. "You never mentioned having a boyfriend." Jace says. His voice is tight and controlled and I can see that his walls are back up when his eyes meet mine again.

"That's because I didn't know if I could trust you not to tell father." I say shyly in response. "He wouldn't exactly approve of me having a boyfriend." I look down at my hands that have begun to nervously wring together in my lap. The air in the room is unbelievably uncomfortable and what openness that he was exuding just moments before is now completely gone. "I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression."

He looks back up to me and gives me a tight and small smile and then looks away as he stands up. "You didn't." he says as he walks over to his dresser and rubs his hand on the spot where he stuck the knife in. "I don't know why I kissed you just then."

"Maybe you were just feeling extra vulnerable because of talking about Father and everything." I offer him. I somehow know that that isn't the reason and so I offer him a reason to help him save face. I don't think Jace has felt the sting of rejection too much in his life and so this must be completely new to him.

"I think you're right." He says quickly and without emotion. His shoulders are tense and he runs a hand through his hair again. "It actually tired me out talking about that."

I stand up and start to walk towards our adjoining door. "I'll get out of your hair then." He doesn't turn around to look at me so I have no idea what expression is on his face. When I get to the door, I stop and turn back to him. He glances at me over his shoulder quickly and then looks back down at the dresser as his fingers run over the small hole. "And Jace," I say to him. "don't tell Jonathan about this." Maybe I can find a way for him to never find out about this. I don't think I could stop him from at least seriously hurting him.

He doesn't say anything so I turn and walk through the door and shut it behind me. I fall backwards and lean heavily against it as I close my eyes. Crap. I think Jace likes me. Jonathan said so but I always just dismissed it as him being a big flirt. I never analyzed his behavior towards me beyond that. The way his face looked so peaceful and happy after he kissed me combined with his rapid pulse and the desperation his lips were exuding, it's hard to believe that I didn't notice anything before this.

I push off of the door and walk over to my bed where I plop down onto it. This is really going to complicate things. It certainly isn't going to help things when we have to pretend that we are in love in front of my mother. Holding hands and glancing longingly at each other. I am not sure that I know how to manage his feelings towards me now that I see them. I think the best thing to do would be to act like it didn't happen. I am pretty sure that is what Jace would prefer, at least.

Shit. I throw myself backwards onto the bed and bring my hands up to cover my face. Why did things have to get complicated between Jace and I? I like having him as a friend and I don't want to screw that up. Plus, now that he knows about Jonathan's blood, maybe he will be more understanding of him and become better friends. They get along pretty well as of now and I think he could be good for Jonathan. Having someone else to help balance him out would be wonderful. They are definitely the two best shadowhunters that I know of and I think that there can be some camaraderie in that. They also have the same 'father' and understand him like no other; like me.

The only problem is that if he were to find out that Jace kissed me, he would lose his shit. That is why he can never find out. I don't want him to get in his own way of being happy and I know having Jace as a friend will make him more happy. He needs more people in his life to support him. Hopefully, one day, that will include Mom. But right now, I have more important things to do.

I get up off of the bed and walk over to my shared wall with Jace. I put the tip of the stele to it and draw the visible rune. A window starts to open up into Jace's room and I see him sitting on the edge of his bed. His side is to me and his shoulders are slightly slumped. His posture and the look on his face actually remind me of a puppy that has just been kicked by the person it loves. I can't possibly have done that to him with my rejection. Surely he just has a small crush on me.

He brings his hands up to his face and rubs them along the length of it roughly and then stands up. He walks over to the mini bar and pulls out a small bottle of liquor. He pulls the plastic from around the top and then he is tossing it back. When that one is drained, he reaches down and grabs another one and repeats the same process. After the second one is drained, he sits back down on his bed and then scoots back until he kicks off his shoes and then lays down. "A boyfriend?" he mumbles quietly to himself with a little bit of an accusatory tone. "Of _course_ she has a boyfriend. She's practically perfect." My heart drops to my stomach when he says that. This is worse than I thought. "Or, she was just lying because she doesn't like me." After he says that, he closes his eyes and scrunches them shut like he is trying not to see or think about something. I really just hope that whatever he is feeling for me is just temporary infatuation. He will surely find someone that will peak his interest more than me.

I pull my stele back from the wall and tuck it back into my pocket. It is probably just our similar blood that pulls him to me. His body's desire to be closer to the blood that it was separated from when Father took it from Ithuriel. Angel's blood is really powerful and can have some crazy effects on people. Raziel's blood turned humans into a whole other species. Ithuriel's blood gave Jace and I some crazy powers. He is probably just looking for that kind of connection to someone since his whole family is gone. He had his grandmother who was the Inquisitor until Father had her killed last year. She was getting too close to him and he needed one of his guys to fill the position so he would be in a better place to take over the Clave. He sent a pack of twenty raveners to kill and eat her when she went to investigate the claim of a rogue shadowhunter that he sent in. The poor lady didn't see it coming.

I huff and walk back over to the bed and take my shoes off before climbing onto it. I pull out my phone and decide to send Jonathan a text. I know that he probably won't be able to answer it, but I would still feel better just knowing that he can read whatever I send him. I just really wish he was here right now so that is what I tell him. "I really miss you and wish you were here with me. I don't like being away from you and it has only been two days."

To my surprise, he answers back rather quickly. _"I don't like being apart from you either. I can't wait to see you soon and get that kiss you said you were going to give me."_

I smile widely at his words and quickly text him back. "That might not be all that I give you..." and then I add a winking emoji after it. "If you catch my drift." I add on to the end. When I feel the phone vibrate quickly in my hand, I hurriedly look down at the screen with a big grin on my face. _"What exactly are you talking about? I don't think I 'catch your drift'. You might need to be more specific."_

I let out a short laugh and bite my lip. "Hmmmm." I send him that quick text as I think about what to say next. "All I have been able to think about since I last saw you is running my hands down your hard bare chest and coming to the top of your pants and unbuttoning them."

 _"And then..."_

"And then I slip my hand into your pants to find your hard erection waiting for me." I smile at the screen and watch it till it says that the message was sent and then hold it to my chest as I wait for his response. Two minutes pass then three, then ten while I wait. I send him another quick text. "Can you still text?" knowing that he won't answer. He would have already if he could have. Especially with what my last text said.

I roll over and grab the remote and turn on the t.v. and let my mind wonder. I don't really watch what is on because my mind is running a million miles an hour. I somehow have to convince my mother to tell me where the cup is while managing my relationship with Jace and Jonathan, _and_ making my Father believe that I am still on his side. I don't have room to screw up on any front. I have to tread carefully and lightly with everyone around me. Just thinking about it is exhausting.

When I see Jonathan tonight, we are going to have a lot of planning to do along with convincing him not to be mad at me for telling Jace about him. Maybe I can convince him to let me tell Jace all about it and he will be none the wiser that I already have. Either way, I will have to be careful with what I say and how I word things.

When I finally form a plan of what to say in my mind to him, I look over to the clock and see that it is around dinner time. I haven't seen Jace since he kissed me and I don't want things to be awkward between us when we go back to my mom's in the morning. I decide that I am going to have to be the one to make first contact with him. I push off of the bed and turn off the t.v. that is now playing some crime show. I run my fingers through my hair and knock on our adjoining door.

After a few seconds, I hear feet hit the floor and then soft padding over to the door. The door swings open and I can tell that Jace has been sleeping. His eyelids are heavy and red and his hair is sticking up in a few places. "Hey, Jace." I say a little too brightly. 'Relax, Clary' I tell myself. "I was wondering if you wanted to go back to that restaurant that you like. I still want to try the steak burger that you told me about." Maybe going somewhere he likes will break the tension between us. Get him to relax and feel more at ease.

He looks at me with a little surprise evident on his face. He quickly wipes his face clean of every emotion other than indifference and shrugs his shoulders. "Sure. Let me grab my jacket."

He turns back into his room and runs his fingers through his hair to flatten the pieces that are sticking up. He shrugs his jacket on and then starts to walk towards his door. I follow behind him and soon we are on the street. "We should hail a cab." He says as he glances back at me just as he sticks his hand out for a passing cab. It comes to a stop and Jace quickly opens the back door and slides in. I scoot in after him while he is telling the driver the address and then we are moving down the street.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up." I tell him after the first five minutes of awkward silence. I have to say something to break the ice.

"It's alright. I should have been awake anyway." His voice is short and a little dismissive.

"I know it was a lot to take in and..." I don't exactly know how to finish that sentence.

"Clary." he says and I look at him. "I'm fine now. No more emotional displays are coming from me." Although his voice is a little shaky, it is the controlled and tight voice that he talks with when around other people. He has always been more relaxed around me and so I have barely been on the receiving end of that voice. The situation between us is worse than I thought and I have to do something if this whole thing with my mom is going to work.

"Listen, Jace." I say tiredly as I turn to him. He turns his head away from the passing city outside of the window and looks over at me with an air of indifference. "I don't want what happened earlier in the room to effect our friendship. I know you were feeling particularly vulnerable," he looks at me with hard eyes when I say that, clearly wanting to protest what I just said but I hold up my hand for him to let me finish, "and you may have acted out without knowing what you were doing. There is no reason that that should change our relationship. I like you, Jace. You are quickly becoming one of my favorite people. I haven't had a lot of genuine friends, or any for that matter. I don't want to let things get weird between us when nothing really that big happened. I would just really prefer for things to go back to the way they were this morning."

Somewhere in the middle of my little speech, he turned his head to look back out of the window. When I am done talking, he looks back over to me with his carefully placed mask and gives me a half smile that isn't really that genuine. "Jeez, Clary." he says with a little huff. "No need to get all deep. You're right. It was nothing so there is nothing to move past." Although he has the half a smile on his face to portray him not being bothered and being indifferent, the tight and clipped tone in his voice says otherwise.

Instead of pushing him on that, I just let it go and focus on getting things back to normal. "So," I say as I peek over at him. "you were impressed with what I can do?"

He looks up to the cabbie and then over at me. "Let's just say I feel like I got jipped with my abilities." he says with a smile.

I let out a loud laugh and his smile gets bigger. "I would probably say the same thing if I were you." I reply through my laughter. He lets out a short laugh before his face lets go of his mask and I suddenly feel like everything will be alright between us. "I am pretty damn awesome." I finish and he rolls his eyes.

We make it to his favorite place, Taki's, and he gives a bro handshake to the downworlder guarding the door as we walk in. Jace is telling me the story he tried to tell me the other night after dinner at the manor and I can't stop laughing. He apparently ate some faerie fruit and then proceeded to take off all of his clothes and go running down the street with his parabatai chasing after him holding his clothes. The visual Jace is painting of Alec's face is almost too much. I have to meet him at some point. He sounds like an okay guy.

"Jace?!" I hear someone say loudly and I turn to see where it was coming from. I look further into the diner and see a very good looking guy with black hair and blue eyes looking very surprised at Jace. I turn and look at Jace who is wearing an almost identical face. "Who's that?" I ask him nervously. I grab onto his arm and ready myself to bolt out of the door, pulling him behind me.

He leans in and whispers, "That's Alec." and then a lump forms in my throat. No one is supposed to know that he is in New York. He is supposed to be on some Clave mission in the Netherlands that Hodge got 'orders' to send him on. He isn't supposed to be back for another two months. He isn't 'supposed' to be a lot of things, yet here he is with me clinging to him. "What the hell?" Alec says and stands up out of the booth he is in. That is when a tall girl with black hair and dark brown eyes comes out of the bathroom who looks remarkably like Alec. I quickly register that hat must be Isabelle. She glances at her brother quizzically, probably wondering why he is standing, and then she follows his eyes and they land on Jace. Her face then turns into shock and then quickly morphs into a grimace.

"When did you get back?" she asks a little bitterly. "And why didn't you tell us you were here?" Her eyes then find me and I can quickly see her size me up.

"I just got back yesterday." Jace says coolly as he steps forward towards them. I let go of his arm and follow closely behind him. "I was going to swing by the Institute tonight."

Alec, who's face has now settled onto annoyed, looks to me and narrows his eyes for a fraction of a second and then they slide back to Jace. "It would have been nice to know you were coming," and then his gaze slides back over to me almost reluctantly, "and that you were bringing a twelve year old with you."

All of a sudden, my previous assumption that Alec would be pretty cool are wiped away. "I turn nineteen next week, asshole." I say bitterly to him. The grimace that has taken over his face deepens when I say that and Jace lets out a short laugh. "Come on, Alec. Don't be so rude." Jace's tone is one that I usually have when trying to make peace and give a warning at the same time to Jonathan and Father. "She clearly could pass for sixteen." he finishes and then I punch him playfully in the side. "Ouch." he says and rubs his ribs as he laughs at his own little joke. The grimace that had formed on Alec's face is wiped away and replaced with a sort of smug look that I really want to punch off of his face.

"Don't mind Alec." the girl who I am assuming is Isabelle steps forward and hits Jace in the back of the head forcefully yet playfully. "He gets cranky when he's hungry. He was already upset after hearing a rumor about us and now he is just hangry." She then turns her gaze back to Jace. "And _that_ was for not telling us you were back."

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal." he says defensively as he makes a show of rubbing the back of his head. "I have only been gone for a week."

"And you came back with someone in tow." the girl says as she gives me a small friendly smile. "I'm Izzy." she says and holds out her hand for me. "And this is my brother, Alec, which I am assuming you already know."

I reach out and shake her hand and give her a friendly smile of my own. "Nice to meet you, Izzy." I then turn my eyes to Alec and hold out my hand for him to shake. He looks down at it for a second, looking at it like it is some kind of disgusting insect, and then shakes it reluctantly. "Nice to meet you, Alec." I say brightly to him with a big fake smile. "I'm Clary Fairchild." I decide to use my mother's surname instead of some random one or my own. "I have heard a lot about the both of you."

"Why don't you two join us for dinner." Izzy says as she looks between the both of us. Jace looks questioningly down at me and I shrug my shoulders as I say, "Sure. Why not? I am sure that the two of you have some pretty embarrassing stories about him that I would just _love_ to hear."

Izzy lets out a short yet devious laugh as she steps towards the booth that Alec stood out of. "You have no idea, Clary." and then she starts to scoot into the booth seat facing the door. I start to move towards the opposite side and Alec bumps into me as he tries to move past me and into the seat. He knocks me a little backwards and into the werewolf sitting in the neighboring booth. I let out an annoyed "Ow." and turn my eyes up to glare at him when I see Jace grab Alec's shoulder and pull him back a little.

"What the hell, man?" Jace says as he looks slightly upset at him. "You almost knocked her over."

"I'm fine, Jace." I say with a clipped voice and look begrudgingly at Alec. Jace pulls him back a little more and then motions for me scoot in as Alec looks murderously at Jace. I sit down and scoot all the way to the wall and then Jace slips in after me. Alec sits down across from him and he is clearly sulking. What the hell is his problem?

"So," Izzy says a little too cheery for the atmosphere between the four of us, "what brings you to New York, Clary?"

I glance at Jace briefly before turning back to Izzy. "I am visiting my mother." I tell her a little nervously.

"She's not supposed to." Jace adds on and then both pairs of eyes are on him. "She left the Clave to marry a mundane and you know the rules. You aren't supposed to have any contact with those that have had their runes stripped."

While Izzy looks a little sympathetically at me, Alec just turns and looks at me like I am something particularly gross. "So you are helping her break the law?" he says with a superior tone and then turns his eyes on Jace.

"Yes, I am." he snaps back and I can see the annoyed look in Jace's face. "Are you going to turn me into the Clave, Alec?" he says as he raises one eyebrow.

"Of course he isn't." Izzy says and then I am pretty sure she kicks Alec under the table. I see him jump as Izzy's body jerks like she is swinging her legs.

Thankfully, the waitress shows up then. She is tall and blonde and very pretty for someone who is clearly part fey. Her eyes are completely blue with no white to be seen. "What can I get for the three," she notices me and then corrects herself, "the four of you today?"

"Well, Kaelie," Jace says as he turns his full charm on her. He smiles flirtatiously at her and she practically swoons. "I told my friend here," he gestures to me, "about the steak burger and she wants to try one." She looks to me for confirmation and I give her a quick nod. "Medium-well, please." I tell her and she writes it down. The others place their orders and the waitress leaves with a little wink at Jace. I can't help but roll my eyes.

"Did you and Jace meet in Amsterdam?" Izzy asks and I turn to look at her from where I was watching a vampire down a glass of O negative.

"Yeah, I did." and turn to look at Jace.

"She noticed how amazing I was from first site and then followed me around like a lost puppy for the next four days." He smirks down at me as my mouth falls open a little. My face quickly morphs into an annoyed one when he starts to laugh at my reaction. "Was he always this annoying?" I ask Izzy as I turn to look at her.

She makes a show of thinking about it for a second before she replies. "Yes, definitely."

I look back at Jace next to me as his laughter quiets and I narrow my eyes at him as I say, "We got partnered together and he has been nothing but a thorn in my side since with all of his horrible jokes and corny one liners."

"My one liners are not corny."

"Yes, they are." Alec says surprising me. "You are able to skirt by your horrible pick up lines with that face of yours."

"It is amazing, isn't it?" Jace says thoughtfully and I see Izzy roll her eyes at the same time that I do and we look at each other and let out a shared laugh.

"So, Clary," Izzy says as the smile she had from laughing fades, "where are you from? Idris?"

"Yeah. I was raised alongside my brother by my father after my parents divorce."

"Alec and I were raised here in New York." she says as she gestures over to her brother.

"I know. Jace has told me all about the both of you." I tell her. "I actually lived in New York until I was five and then we moved to Idris."

"That's cool." Izzy says as the waitress reappears with our drinks. When I turn my head to look at her, I notice that Jace and Alec are having some sort of a silent conversation. Jace is looking a little baffled while Alec has this annoyed look on his face. "Wow." I say as I take a sip of my coke. "You really have a knack for annoying people. Even your parabatai." I look pointedly at Alec as Jace turns and looks at me while Alec gives me a very unsettling glare.

"It's a gift." Jace says with a small smile as he looks at me. He turns back to look at Izzy. "You know, Izzy," he says with a knowing tone, "I think you might have met your match when it comes to the whip. Clary here is pretty proficient in every weapon."

"My father was a sort of perfectionist." I offer as an explanation. "He drilled my brother and I endlessly until we were experts with every weapon." Alec lets out a tiny scoff and I turn to look at him. He shoves one of his fries in his mouth as a disbelieving smirk spreads across his face.

"It's true, Alec." Jace says trying to relieve the tension that is passing between his parabatai and myself. "She has kicked my ass more times than I care to admit."

Alec raises his head and looks at Jace as he raises one eyebrow and says, "Really? Is that so?" with an indignant and disbelieving tone.

"Would you like a demonstration?" I ask with a little excited tone to my voice. I really wouldn't mind kicking his ass right about now.

"I wouldn't feel right fighting someone that is the size of a seven year old." he replies with a smirk on his lips.

For a brief second, I think about jumping over the table and punching him till he is unconscious. Once I figure out that that would be counter productive to everything I am working towards, I reluctantly dismiss the option. I need Jace to be on my side and beating the living shit out of his parabatai wouldn't be getting more on his good side. I let out a small laugh as I reach for my drink and take a sip. "That's what Jace said until I had him lying on his back in the first five seconds of our first sparring match." I look up to Jace and smile at him and he smiles back at me. "He managed to last eight seconds the second time and a full ten seconds the third."

"Well I didn't expect you to climb me like a monkey." he says indignantly and I start to laugh as his smile widens at me.

"I love it when people underestimate me. I love seeing the look of utter surprise on their faces quickly followed up by embarrassment. Yours was the best though, Jace. It was priceless." He narrows his eyes playfully at me but is still smiling reluctantly at me. "It was this mixture of widened eyes in surprise and fear while his mouth hung open." I mimic the look he had on his face by letting my jaw fall open and widening my eyes with horror and Izzy lets out a loud cackle.

"I would have given a whole years salary to see that!" she says as she laughs. "Please do it again for us to see."

"We might not have time." Jace says as he slowly looks away from me. "We are going back to her mom's tomorrow morning for breakfast and then we leave the next day."

"We?" Alec says questioningly. "I think she can visit her mother on her own."

"Sure she can." Jace responds with a tight voice and a tight look over at him. "But I _want_ to go with her. Her mom fell in love with me today when we visited her earlier and I want to try her omelets that Clary has told me so much about."

Once again, I want to punch Alec in the face. "They are pretty awesome." I say with a smile back to Jace which he returns after removing the look from his face when he was looking at Alec. That is when I notice it. Every time that Jace looks at me and smiles, Alec grimaces. He also was ready to knock me over trying to sit next to Jace. I think I know why he is being so hostile towards me but there is only one way to be sure of what I am guessing.

"Hey, Jace?" I ask with my voice really soft. "Can you pass me the salt?"

"Sure." he says and grabs it. As he is bringing it over to me, I reach out and grab it while his hand is still on the shaker, brushing my fingers on top of his skin. "Sorry." I say sheepishly as I look away shyly like I am about to blush and he smiles at me thinking he caused that reaction from me. When I peak back over at Alec, he looks like he is about to throw up. I shake the salt over the fries that are in the middle of the table and grab a few. Yep. Alec's gay and in love with Jace. If he wasn't, then he wouldn't mind him smiling at me or me brushing my skin against his. He would probably be rooting him on to try and get laid. Instead, every time Jace smiles at me, Alec glares at me. Now that I am armed with this information, it's time for a little payback for his piss-poor attitude towards me.

I lean into Jace a little and smile up at him. "Remember the other night when you ate dinner with my brother and me and he had unscrewed the salt shaker? He meant for you to grab it and dump it all over your plate but my father picked it up instead."

Jace lets out a loud cackle at the memory. Jonathan has been giving Jace a hard time playing pranks on him since he came. At first, I think they were lighthearted, but looking back now, I think there may have been some real feeling behind the pranks. Like it was Jonathan's way of getting back at Jace for liking me and him not being able to do anything about it. "The look on your dad's face was hilarious. I thought he was going to kill your brother."

"So you've met her whole family?" Izzy asks Jace inquisitively as our laughing dies down. Alec is now full blown sulking and I love it.

He furrows his brows for a fraction of a second before he says, "Hmmm. I guess I have."

"And I can't wait to meet Max." I add with a smile on my face. "The way Jace has talked about him endlessly makes me feel like I already know him."

"He is pretty awesome." Jace says with a smile as he looks at Izzy. "Which reminds me," he says as he leans forward and looks between Izzy and Alec, "you said that Alec was already upset when we got here because of a rumor?" His statement sounds more like a question and I can see all traces of amusement wipe off of the siblings faces. Izzy glances at me uneasily and I suddenly feel like I am intruding on some family issue. "It's just that bitch Victoria Dieudonne." she says sourly.

My ears perk up at the mention of her name and I am suddenly on full alert. "She is spreading rumors about me and Alec."

Jace, who is still looking thoroughly confused, looks to her and motions for her to continue. She glances at me once more and then I can see her decide to tell him despite my presence. "She has been telling everyone that Alec and I are attracted to each other and that we got caught 'together'." she makes air quotes and I freeze as I suddenly remember the conversation I had with Victoria.

Jace surprises me by bursting out laughing. I look over to him like he has lost his mind along with Izzy. "What is so damn funny, Jace?" she asks him through gritted teeth.

He quiets his laughter and says, "Just the thought of that is hilarious."

"Well I don't think it's all that funny." Izzy says as she folds her arms across herself and scowls at him. "Everybody has been looking at us like we are some kind of disease that needs to be eradicated."

I kind of feel bad for her since I am the one who started the rumor. I didn't mean to, but I did. "Why did she say that?" I ask Izzy trying to sound supportive.

"She says that she got the information from a 'very reliable source' but won't say who that 'source' is." Her voice is bitter and angry and I can't really blame her. "If what she is saying is true and there is some other person who started that rumor, I would love to kick their ass. It's ruining my dating prospects."

I sink down a little in my seat and tuck my hair behind my ear. 'Whoopsie' I say to myself. It's actually _me_ who is fucking their brother. I can't help but smile just a little for a second as I think about what they would say if they found out it was me who was allowing her brother to have sex with her. I can't help that he is so fucking sexy and probably the best lay in the entire world. Not to mention the fact that I am in love with him. Sometimes you just can't control these things and they end up happening. Why fight it when it brings you happiness?

"Everyone will probably forget about the stupid rumor before next week." I say trying to sound supportive. "And anyway, I don't think you are anywhere close to Alec's type." His eyes snap over to me and I give him a small smile. "He seems like he would have a thing for blondes." Since everyone has now turned their heads to look at Alec, I nod in towards Jace with a raised eyebrow and the scowl on his face deepens. He now knows that I know about his little crush on his parabatai and he looks pissed beyond belief yet slightly horrified because I was able to pick it out so quickly.

"What _is_ your type?" Jace asks sounding genuinely curious. "Every time I bring it up, you don't want to talk about it."

"And I still don't." he says as he looks back at Jace with a slightly less angry face.

Thankfully, Izzy quickly changes the subject. "How are you liking Amsterdam?" she asks Jace and the look on his face lets me know that he is also grateful for the subject change.

"I like it there." he replies as the waitress shows up with our food. She sets it down and I thank her as I pick up my steak burger and take a bite. I can see Jace from the corner of my eye watching me with a small smile on his lips. As soon as I begin to chew, I close my eyes. "Mmmm." I say as the combination of flavors explode in my mouth. I open my eyes back up and look at Jace who is still watching me with a smile. "You're right. This _is_ amazing."

"I told you." he says with a smirk and then turns to the steak burger he ordered for himself.

The rest of the meal goes by with comfortable conversation with me, Jace, and Izzy while Alec remains mostly quiet and only contributes to the conversation when prodded. I almost feel bad for the poor guy liking probably the straightest guy I have ever met. Almost. When it comes to the end I ask Jace to let me out so I can go to the bathroom and he lets me out.

* * *

 **-Izzy**

Clary scoots out of the booth and Jace's eyes follow her until she disappears around the corner. When he looks back at me, apparently feeling my eyes on him, the small smile that he had on his lips as he watched after Clary fades quickly. He knows what is coming. "So, you've only known this girl for a week and you've met her whole family and are traveling with her?"

He shifts a little in his seat and I am surprised to see that his face falls slightly. "It's not like what you are thinking, Izzy. She has a boyfriend." Alec beside me perks up a little at this news and I have to kick him again under the table. I thought that the time away from Jace would help him get over him, but apparently not when he shows up with a feisty red head. There is definitely a bitter undertone to Jace's voice and I look at him more closely. I know one thing for sure and that is that he likes this girl. It is written all over his face when he looks at her. His whole face lights up. Jace, who has never ever liked a girl for more than a week, is crushing _bad_ on Clary.

"But you clearly like her." I say back to him. He looks up to me and he is about to deny it when I raise one brow, daring him to lie. He knows that Alec and I will see right through it.

"But that doesn't matter as long as she has a boyfriend." he says as he pushes his empty plate away.

"Since when did Jace Wayland let a girl having a boyfriend stop him?" I say playfully and his eyes look hurt for a second before he pulls his mask back on. "Wait. Did you already try?"

Jace looks completely tortured when I ask him that and I can tell that I have hit the mark. "She didn't tell me that she had a boyfriend and I kissed her. She pushed me away."

"How does rejection feel?" Alec says with a little too much pep in his voice. I raise my hand up and slap him in the back of the head, hard. "What the hell is your problem today?" I ask him even though I already know the answer. "You have been nothing but rude to Clary since you saw her."

He shrugs his shoulders and says, "I just don't get good vibes from her."

"That is such bullshit, Alec." Jace says and Alec looks at him, clearly surprised by his reaction. "You are just mad at me because I didn't tell you I was back in town and I was with her and so you deemed her as the problem. Maybe I just wanted to spend more time with her by ourselves without you sulking around like I knew you would."

"And how did you know that I would be sulking around you when you are with her?" Alec asks defensively. He is leaning towards Jace over the table and the two are now scowling at each other.

"Because you never approve of _anyone_ I have ever dated."

"But you aren't exactly dating her, are you?" Alec spits out sounding a little superior. Jace leans back heavily into his seat and shoots daggers at him with his eyes. "You always bring home these sluts that giggle at every stupid little thing you say and throw themselves at you. I don't see how _she_ is any different. She will just end up being another notch in your belt."

That was definitely the wrong thing for Alec to say because Jace's eyes then turn absolutely murderous towards him. "If you weren't my parabatai, I would knock you out right now." Jace's voice is low and angry and I suddenly feel like I might need to jump in front of Alec to protect him. "Clary is not like anyone else I have ever met and she is the _furthest_ thing from being one of the giggling bimbos that usually throw themselves at me. If you can't learn to control your anger and bitterness, then I won't want to be around you." He stands up angrily from the table and I can see in Alec's eyes the regret at saying what he said. He went too far and now he knows it. Why does he have to be so jealous?

"Jace," Alec says worriedly.

"Don't bother." he replies as Clary walks up. She looks between the two of them and her face turns serious. "I'm ready to go." Jace says as he pulls some money from his pockets and tosses it on the table. Before she can say anything, he puts his hand on the small of her back and begins to guide her towards the door. She looks back over her shoulder after they walk a little ways and says, "It was nice to meet the both of you."

"You too." I say back to her and then they are out the door.

"What the hell was that about?" I say sternly to my brother.

"Shut up, Izzy." he says as he shoves his plate away in frustration and anger.

"No, I won't. When are you going to realize that you and Jace are never going to happen? He is straight."

"Maybe he wouldn't be if he knew how I felt."

I roll my eyes at him. "For the love of the Angel, that's delusional." He turns his face to look at me angrily. "I am just telling you how you sound. You seriously need to move on. He clearly really likes that girl and you could have been supportive, like a normal friend. Instead, you were bitter and angry and you pushed him away. Who knows when he will be back or if he will ever tell us if he likes anyone else. He certainly can't talk to his own parabatai about how he feels." Alec thankfully has the decency to look somewhat remorseful. "Let's go." I say and start to shove him out of the booth.

* * *

 **-Clary**

Jace was quietly stewing the whole way back to the hotel and barely said a word. I didn't prod him for information because he just looked like he really needed to cool down.

When we get to the hotel, I toss some money to the front seat of the cab and scoot out with Jace closely behind. "Are you okay, Jace?" I ask him softly. I know something happened between him and Alec, I just don't know what.

He looks down at me and then his face is wiped clean of any scowl that he had the whole way back and he gives me a small smile. "I'm fine. Alec can be kind of a jerk sometimes. He likes to keep to his carefully crafted personal bubble that no one but me and his family live in."

"I could tell." I say sourly as I look back in front of me from his face. "I didn't get the vibe that he liked me that much. I have no idea what I did to him though." Lie. I know exactly why he didn't like me. The question is, does Jace know?

"You didn't do anything to him, Clary." he says as he opens the door to the hotel for me. "He will come around."

"Goodness, I hope so." I say under my breath and he chuckles a little. "I don't think I can take anymore of his sideways glares."

"I'll step in the way if he does." Jace says as he slings an arm over my shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

I scoff and throw his arm off of my shoulders as we reach the elevators. I turn around to face him and say, "If anyone needs protecting between the two of us, it would, hands down, be you."

"That might be true when it comes to your brother."

"You are probably right." I say with a mock serious tone just as the elevator doors open. We both step in and as the doors close, I turn to Jace. "I wasn't going to tell you, but I think you deserve to know now that you agreed to help."

He turns and looks at me as his face turns serious. "Go on."

"I am going to see Jonathan tonight to talk about a new plan." I tell him a little sheepishly. I don't know how he is going to react so I brace myself for the worst.

"Do I get to come?" he asks thankfully. I am glad he didn't get mad and freak out about me keeping this secret from him.

"Maybe after I talk to him first." I can't just bring him with me. It will give away that he already knows everything and I have to convince Jonathan to let me tell him first. "He doesn't exactly know that I told you about everything yet so he might get mad if I just show up with you."

He seems to understand and nods his head in understanding. The elevator doors open up and I put my hand on his stomach to stop him from moving forward. He looks at me with confusion etched on his face. "Race me on the count of three." I tell him with a wicked smirk that he quickly returns. "One...two..."

"Three!" Jace yells and then takes off a fraction of a second before me. "Cheater!" I yell at him from a little ways behind and, of course, he wins when he reaches the door a millisecond before me. "I win." he says smugly.

"Only because you cheated." I reply and then swipe my key. I can't help but smile thinking about how many times I beat him on the morning runs that Father would make us take last week. Jonathan, of course, would beat us both. That is the only thing I have never beat him at because he is so damn fast. Jace follows behind and I walk over to my bed. "I would like to change before I leave." I say as I sit down on my bed. "And I have to leave in fifteen minutes."

"Will you come back for me after you tell him that I know about everything?" he asks.

"I will if there is enough time. I don't know how long it will take to convince him that me telling you was a good idea. I won't plan anything though while you're not there. I have heard you with Father and I know that you are an incredibly good strategist."

"That, I am." he says and stands up a little straighter and makes a show of looking like someone important. I stand up and shove him through the open door that adjoins our rooms. "Goodbye, Jace." I tell him with a smile before I shut the door. He turns around and I am just in time to see him wink before the door closes. "He is such a flirt." I mumble as I take off my leather jacket. I make my way over to my suitcase in the closet and dig through until I find the black lace see through bra and panty set that Jonathan liked so much in the French lingerie store. I quickly freshen up and change into the undergarments with a smile on my face and put my pants back on along with a fresh new white shirt that you can see through a little when the light hits it just right. I usually wear a flesh colored bra so you can't tell you can see through it when the light hits it at the perfect angle. I know Jonathan will be able to see through it to see the black bra no matter what, and I smile wickedly at that thought.

I hurriedly run a brush through my hair and touch up the light makeup that I put on this morning and check the mirror one last time before grabbing my jacket. I go back to the adjoining door and knock twice before I open it slowly. "Quit touching yourself and come here." I say playfully to him and I hear him chuckle.

He appears in my door and steps through as I walk over to the wall. "I thought you might like to see me create a portal." I have a knowing smile on my face because I already know the answer.

"Um, yes, please." he says and I let out one laugh. I turn a little towards him and my shirt must have caught the light right because his eyes dart down to my chest and his eyes widen and then he looks away as a light blush creeps across his cheek. I pretend not to notice anything and pull my stele from my back pocket. "Are you going to watch?" I ask him as he tries to not look at me again while I am turned towards him.

Jace turns back to me and makes hard eye contact with me and I laugh a little on the inside. He is trying _so_ hard not to look. "I'm waiting." he says and I turn back to the wall.

I take my time drawing the rune and soon, the swirling blue of a portal appears on the wall. I look back to Jace who looks completely fascinated as his mouth hangs open a little. "I know. You don't have to tell me." I say with a superior tone.

"Tell you what?" he asks still looking in amazement at my portal.

"How amazing I am." I say and then I buff my nails on my shoulder as I smirk. He finally looks at me again and smiles widely at me. "See ya' later." I say and then I step into the portal and let it pull me in.

* * *

 **Jace was always going to fall in love with Clary. He just can't help it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I am sorry that it took me a little longer than usual to update but I have a REALLY good reason. It involves and escaped convict, my car that he broke into, my neighbor whose gun he stole, and a dog search team that started at my house where he took off his prison clothes and dumped them in my yard and went up and down my street for hours as they tried to pick up his scent. The past few days have been intense to say the least. I wish I was making it up, but I'm not. I swear on the Angel!**

 **I will do everything in my power to have another chapter up by Tuesday. I promise!**

* * *

I land on my feet by the creek that Jonathan and I would run away to when we were little. I can hear the gently rolling of the water filling the night with a peaceful sound. I look around for a second and see that Jonathan isn't here yet. I am about five minutes early anyway.

The giant tree that Jonathan would make me practice jumping from is just ahead and I start to head that way. On the highest branch at the very top of the old tree, our names are carved into the bark. I did it after I climbed all the way to the top for the first time. I asked Jonathan to toss me his knife and he just looked to me completely confused as to why I would want it but he did as I asked anyway. When I was done, I climbed down a little ways and then jumped down onto the ground right in front of him.

"Go look on the top branch." I told him with a smile on my face. Jonathan's ten year old face scrunched together quizzically for a moment before he took off. He was up the tree in a matter of seconds and when he found what I did, he got the biggest smile on his face. His face always warms up so much when he smiles like that. The usually cold and distant look of him is completely wiped away and it's like he is a whole other person.

"Are you thinking about our names?" I hear a deep voice say. I spin around as fast as I can and see Jonathan smiling warmly at me from about ten feet away. "Jonathan!" I yell and then break into a run. When I get close, I launch myself into the air and he catches me easily. His huge arms wrap around me making me feel like I have been missing a particularly important limb and I bury my face in the crook of his neck. I breathe in his peppery smell and suddenly feel more at ease about everything.

I pull back as he is holding me off of the ground and bring my lips to his harshly. My mouth is pressed up against his and I am sure he can feel the desperation in my lips. I know it hasn't really been that long since I saw him but it feels like it has been years.

I feel his tongue on my lips and I let him in. Our tongues are then sliding eagerly against each others and our heavy breathing becomes loud because of our noses that are squished in between us. "God, I missed you." I say when I pull back for a second and then slam my lips back against his.

His chest vibrates a little and he lets out a small throaty laugh as I feel his mouth turn up at the sides from him smiling. "I couldn't tell." he says with a big smile on his face. He lets me down and I stick out my bottom lip to show him that I don't like him letting me go and he quickly bends down and kisses it. "I brought you something."

He steps aside and I see the dark red and blue blanket from the back of the couch at the manor. We always use it to cover up with while watching movies. We also used it to make forts with when we were kids. Next to the blanket is a bottle of white wine and some assorted fruit. I look up to him with the most awed look in my eyes. He is making such wonderful progress. I never thought in a million years that he would be so thoughtful as to do something so romantic.

"I thought we were supposed to be strategizing about how to thwart our evil father." As I say this seductively, I slowly run my hands up his chest and he shivers a little under my touch. I put a little pressure behind my hands and he slowly starts to walk backwards towards the blanket. "But instead, you had to go and be romantic." The moon is lighting his hair and turning it the most beautiful silvery shade. His eyes slide down to my chest and I know that he is able to see through my shirt by the way they darken with lust.

The back of his feet touch the edge of the blanket and he lets me swoop his feet out from under him. He falls backwards and onto the blanket with unbelievable grace and I walk forward to him. I straddle his hips and reach over to where the wine and fruit is and pop the cork. There are no glasses and that is fine with me. It probably would have been a pain in the ass for him if he tried to bring some when I am fine just drinking from the bottle.

I turn the bottle up and let the wine pour down my throat as Jonathan puts his hands behind his head and watches me. When I look down at him, he looks so content and at peace and I can't believe that it is because of me. I smile and hold the wine bottle over his mouth and he opens it for me. I laugh a little as I pour some in his mouth from above and then I take another sip.

Just as I am setting the bottle back down, he sits up and grabs me by my neck and pulls me to him. His lips press against mine with the perfect amount of pressure and it feels like I am flying. He always sets me on fire and then makes me feel like I am a piece of the ash from the flames and I fly away with the wind.

My hands go the waist band of his pants and I slowly slip my hands under the hem of his shirt. His eyes flutter shut as I drag my hands up his bare chest, lightly digging my nails into his skin in certain places, as I lean forward and kiss him. I sit up and pull on his shirt. He seems to get what I want because he then sits up and pulls off the dark navy t-shirt. I look down at him and bite my lip at the sight of such perfection.

His black runes are perfectly placed all over his chest, making his muscles more defined and blanketing his skin with power that I feel coming from them. His hands come to rest on my thighs and he gives them a soft squeeze. I look back up at his face still biting my lip with desire, and I can see that his mind has traveled where mine already was.

He doesn't say a word as I reach down to the bottom of my shirt and slowly pull it over my head. I toss it to the side and his black eyes slither down to my chest. "That's my favorite." he says sexily and I grin wickedly at him. "I know." I reply as I feel his hard erection pressing against my core. I stand up and give him a look for him to stay put and he does. My eyes never break contact with his as I take my time unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans. I hook my thumbs into my waistband and sexily shimmy slightly from side to side as I work them over my hips and down my legs. I kick those over to where my shirt is and then lower myself back onto his hips.

Jonathan reaches down to unbutton his pants and I shove his hands away. He has been in control every time and I think it is long overdue that I take control. I can see in his eyes that he thinks about protesting but I give him a slow shake of my head saying 'not this time'. His hands go back to my thighs as he accepts this fact and I give him a wicked grin.

I lean forward and place a hot kiss on his collarbone and then slowly start to make my down his chest. My hair falls forward and tickles his skin as I lightly bite him here and there. I place one last kiss right above his pants and sit up. I don't bother looking up at his face as his quickened breathing tells me all that I need to know. I reach down and pop the button lose and leisurely slide his zipper down. I dive my hand in to find his hard member and the moment my skin touches him, he groans sexily.

I let him go and start to pull down his pants with a little help from him. When he is fully naked, I languidly drag my eyes up to survey him and I feel an intense warmth spread to my lower belly. Fuck, he's so hot.

I fall forward onto my hands and knees and slowly slink my way up his legs. When my head reaches his waist, I stop and place a kiss on his pelvis, near the base of his erection. I then grab his knees and push them apart and settle myself between his legs. His abs flex and I look up to see him sit up a little so he can watch me as I place my tongue at the base of his hard member. I lazily drag my flattened tongue up his shaft and then swirl it around his head as he lets out a very shaky breath. I bring my hand up and wrap it around the base, my fingers not touching because of the girth, and then slowly slide my mouth back onto him.

I begin to suck and he growls his approval. It takes me a minute, but I am finally able to relax the muscles in my throat enough that I am able to take him in all of the way. The feeling of him completely filling up my mouth and throat turn me on like you wouldn't believe. I can't help but let out a moan of my own as I bob my head up and down on him. After a couple of minutes, I feel him growing impossibly harder in my mouth. That lets me know that he is getting close and I pull off of him.

Jonathan makes a tiny sound of protest and I smile a little at that. I stand up and hook my thumbs in the waist of the black lace see through panties and pull them down. I am already so wet and have been waiting long enough to feel him inside of me. I straddle his waist again and begin to lower myself down. When I get closer, I reach down and grab his erection to line it up with me. I lower myself enough to where he can feel my entrance and hold him there. He looks down at me in anticipation and says, "Clary." with an exasperated tone.

I take pity on him and lower myself onto him painstakingly slow. Both he and I close our eyes at the sensation. I can feel my walls close tightly around him and squeeze him as he spreads me wide. I am so glad that he is as big as he is. I love the feeling of fullness he gives me.

As I slide up his length and then back down with my eyes still closed, I listen to the creek running by. The sound of the water is so calming and peaceful. The only other sound to break the night's silence is Jonathan and I's breathing and soft moans. I raise up again and bring myself back down onto him, dropping quickly the last few inches and slamming into him roughly. He lets out a startled moan of pleasure so I do it again. Soon, the sound of our skin slapping together is added to the peaceful sounds of the night along with the lust filled sounds coming from Jonathan and myself.

After a few minutes of this, I feel him harden inside of me and decide to that I don't want him to cum yet. I lower myself onto him and start to rock my hips back in forth. It is a change of pace from me bouncing up and down on him and he closes his eyes as he is pushed inside of me as far as he can go. My rocking hips start off slow and lazy and I slowly build up to where they are growing harder and more pointed.

Jonathan's hands slide up my body and slide over my lacy bra and then around to my back as he sits up a little. His fingers expertly pop the clasp and he pulls it down my arms and exposes my breasts to the night sky. I rock my hips on him particularly hard and he throws his head back as he groans. "MMmnnghh, baby sister." he moans out and his large scarred hands find my nipples.

I start to speed up, feeling myself building to that perfect peak, and my fingers dig into his thighs as I lean back to better hit my spot. I close my eyes and let my head fall back when I hear Jonathan say, "You look so fucking hot right now." I don't look down at him and just continue with my motion as I concentrate on that building tingling sensation inside of me. Another minute of this and I am a moaning mess. "Jonathan" I say his name like it is the only word in the world and a few more thrusts from me and I am coming undone.

The night sky explodes with bright colors as I find my release and I scream loudly into the silent night. A bird that was in our tree flies off, startled from the sudden loud sounds that are coming from me. I start to come down from my high and look down to see Jonathan's face that is a mask of pure lust. I give him a small smile and a little laugh as I lean forward and kiss his lips. "My turn." he says darkly when I pull back and I can see a dark sparkle in his eye.

* * *

 **-Jonathan**

Clary looks down at me with a blissed out look on her pale face when I say that and I grab her hips. I roll us over to where she is on her back under me; my favorite place for her to be, and push into her roughly. She presses her head into the ground when I do in pleasure and I dip my head down to take her nipples into my mouth. They are the most perfect shade of pink and she tastes like what I think an angel would taste like which is why I can never get enough.

I feel my tongue slide over the hard nub of her nipple and suck on it as I flick it with my tongue. Her tiny hands come up and into my hair and she grabs handfuls of my hair and pulls it lightly. I let go of that nipple and move to the other one. This one is already at full attention for me and I thrust into her roughly as I stick my tongue out to it. Her tits bounce and her nipple slides against the rough bumps on my tongue as I stick it out to catch it as it passes by. I do this a few more times before I push myself up.

I get onto my knees and pull her hips up with me as she wraps her milky legs around me. The top of her back is still on the ground as her hips are elevated to meet mine. I wrap my hands around her hip bones and pull her away from me a little and then bring her back to me with force. The way her eyes roll back in her head before she closes them lets me know that I have done something right. After that confirmation, I pick up my speed.

Her walls are closed so tight around me that I have to concentrate so I don't cum right away. She just feels so amazing and so fucking tight that all I ever want anymore is to be inside of her. Of course my baby sister would fit perfectly around me and squeeze me so wonderfully tight. She was made just for me.

I shift the direction of my hips just a little and find her g-spot that I know how to find every time. She yells out in ecstasy as her hands fly to the blanket under us. They fist in the material as she looks back up at me. Our eyes lock and I can see the pleasure that I am giving her swimming in them. "Fuck me harder, big brother." she moans out and I can't help but growl in approval. I _love_ when she calls me that when we fuck. It's like she is acknowledging all of the ways that she is mine.

I start to slam into her and her moans of pleasure just become one indistinct sound of ecstasy. Watching her tits bounce up and down and seeing her flaming hair spread around her feminine face pushes me closer to my peak. I imagined this for years and years and now I have her. I can feel that she is getting closer to another peak by her walls starting to pulse slightly. Her eyes scrunch tightly closed and I tell her to open them. "Look at me." I tell her as both of our breathing picks up and becomes more ragged.

Clary's eyes open and lock with mine and I grin wickedly at her. She is _all mine_. No one has ever seen or will _ever_ see her the way I am seeing her right now. I have this part of her all to myself and I revel in that fact.

After another minute of pounding into my baby sister, her moans become choked off and she begins to come around me as her eyes bore into mine. That is my cue to let myself go. A few more pointed and hard thrusts and I am releasing myself into her. I grind my teeth together as the waves of pleasure coarse through my body and grunt with a feral growl. I fill her up with my cum and look down at her heaving chest as she comes down from her high. Looking at her now, naked and wrapped around my dick, I don't know how I was able to wait so long to have her.

I look down at her and see her chest heave up and down making her skin beautifully flushed so I reach down and cup her breasts in my hands and fondle them for a little bit. I love feeling her soft hot skin in my hands. I slowly pull out of her and lower her hips back to the ground and watch as my seed starts to seep out of her just a little. I love seeing that; my mark of possession. My smell mixing with hers until when I drag my nose across her skin, she smells like me.

I lay down on my back next to her and she turns her body towards me and tucks herself into my side. Clary throws one of her legs over my hip as one of her arms comes to rest on my chest. She places a couple of soft kisses on my chest and I love the way that feels. It is like she is worshiping me by the way she puts all of her love for me into those tiny kisses.

"I really needed that." she says lowly to me and I chuckle a little.

"Me too." I tell her and turn my head to kiss the top of hers. When I look back up to the night sky, I can't help but think about what Father and I talked about at dinner earlier. I should really tell her. "Father is planning a trip to New York." I say quietly.

* * *

 **-Clary**

My head snaps up from where I was resting it in the crook of Jonathan's arm. "He's coming to New York?" I ask to make sure I heard him right. He turns his head to me and our eyes meet as he says, "He told me about it at dinner. He didn't want you to know. He is going to spy on you and Jace to make sure that you are doing as you are told."

"Shit." I say as I prop my chin on top of his chest.

Jonathan's face tightens a little as his mouth begins to move. "He also said that he is going to be introducing you to your second 'suitor' there. He won't tell me who he is but I get the feeling that he isn't going to be all that pleasant because he really wants you with Jace." His face makes a sneer as he says the last part and I bring my hand up to cup his face. His features relax under my touch and I pull his face to mine. I press my lips fully against his to let him know that I am still fully his. "That is never going to happen." I say in a whisper when I pull back to breathe. "Damn straight it isn't." he says and I let out a short breathy laugh. "You are so possessive." I tell him with a smile. "I like it." My voice drops low and sexy and I press my chest harder against him. He lets out a low and feral growl as his eyes glaze over with a little more black. "You're mine and always will be." he says with fervor.

I smile widely at him and bring our lips together again. I shove my tongue in his mouth and he returns the kiss with ferocity. The kiss lasts for a little while and then we slow our lips and tongues and pull away from each other. "You have got to stop kissing me or we won't get anything accomplished." I say and he laughs manically.

"Okay then, Miss. Morgenstern, what did you have on the agenda for tonight's meeting?"

I break eye contact with him and bite my lip as I shift up into a sitting position. He is still laying down and I am still pressed up against his side with my legs tucked under me. Jonathan's arm wraps around my hips and he holds me to him. "I was thinking that we should tell Jace about everything."

Jonathan's face turns serious and his eyes tighten a little. "Why?"

"I think he could be a really powerful ally." I say sounding very sure of myself. "If I were to tell him what Father did to him and...did to you," his face gets cold for a second before I continue, "that he would throw away his allegiance to him and follow us. I already know that he doesn't feel the same way about downworlders as Father. Not to mention, he is already mad at him for abandoning him. I don't think it would take much to push him over the edge." Jonathan opens his mouth to say something but I hold my hand up to him. "Please, babe. Let me finish."

He purses his lips a little and then gives me a quick nod. "I can make him swear on the Angel that he not tell anyone about your blood and mine and his. He is starting to trust me and I know I could get him to do it. He said himself that he thinks the Clave is outdated and unfair and needs to be reformed. The three of us would be unstoppable if we combined our talents and worked together. You know what a good strategist he is from working with him and Father last week. He gave some amazing ideas to the both of you that you refined and he provided insight to. He is a good judge of the human emotions that drive someone into battle and how to fight. With your superior fighting skills and intelligence combined with his grasp on human nature plus my rune powers... _no one_ could stand against us. Not even Father and his precious circle. Once they see that he is obsolete and see how powerful we are, they will run and hide like the cowards they are. After all, that is what they have been doing for the past nineteen years."

I can see Jonathan taking in what I am saying and turning it over and over in his head as he contemplates the possibilities. He sits up quickly and stands up and begins to pace. He does that when he is thinking hard about something. His pale naked skin reflects the low moonlight back onto me and I can't help but let my eyes linger on certain spots. He is the perfect specimen of what the male body should look like. His tall six foot two height along with his wide set frame and narrow hips. Fuck, he's hot.

After a about five minutes of his pacing, he suddenly stops and looks critically back down to me. "Okay." he says. "Tell him. But make him swear on the Angel to keep all of our blood a secret."

A slow smile spreads across my face and I stand up. I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his waist and press my naked body against his. It feels like where ever my skin touches his, my nerve ending come to life. I reach up on the tips of my toes as he leans down and grabs my jaw and pulls my face to his. His other hand skims down over my skin and comes to rest on my butt. He pulls me into him with that hand and gives it a little squeeze as his tongue explores my mouth. When he finally pulls away, I am breathless from the unexpected intensity of our kiss. "I trust you." he says almost inaudibly, but I heard it. I open my eyes and look up to his. They are boring into mine with such intensity and with as much trust someone like him can hold. "I know you do." I say back and then pull him back into the kiss. Things quickly escalate from there.

He turns me around and bends me over and shoves roughly into me. This time things are rough and animalistic and really fucking hot. He grabs my hips and pulls me into him with force and soon we are both screaming as we reach our peaks together. After that, he lets go of me and I stand up and turn around and give him a few kisses. I pull him back over the the blanket and sit down in between his legs and lean against his chest. He picks up the bottle of wine and takes a long sip before handing it to me. We sit like that for a while, his arms wrapped around my waist as I feed him and myself the fruit he brought. It is silent the rest of the time as we listen to the gentle rolling of the creek and just enjoying being with each other.

* * *

I step out of the portal and back into the hotel room and my mood suddenly falls a little. I wanted him to come with me so bad but I know that he can't. He has to be there with Father to keep an eye on him. I toss my jacket, that I ended up not needing, onto the bed and run my fingers through my matted 'sex hair' as I walk over to the adjoining door. I rap softly on it and hear Jace's feet hit the floor. He swings the door open and is standing there with no shirt and low slung sweatpants. I can't help but notice how attractive he is in that moment. I may be with Jonathan but that doesn't mean that I am blind.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm back."

"How did it go?" He asks as he moves aside to let me in his room.

"I didn't tell him that I already told you about everything. Instead, I got him to agree to let me tell you so now I am supposed to tell you everything." I give him a small smile and let out a little laugh.

"Well that's a good sign, right?" he asks as he runs a hand through his damp hair. It looks like he has recently showered. "Maybe he doesn't trust me fully yet, but at least he trusts me enough to let me know about everything."

"It's me he trusts. I told him that you could be trusted and he took my word for it."

"That's fair enough." Jace says as he moves past me and sits on his bed. He motions for me to sit next to him and I shake my head no. "I really want to take a shower." I tell him. I can feel Jonathan's cum still slowly sliding out of me and I don't want it to dry. That shit is sticky and hard to get off when it dries.

"Okay." he says with a gentle smile. "Goodnight."

"Night, Jace." I say with a smile and go back to my room.

* * *

Ugh. I hate alarms. The insistent beep-beep-beep blaring in my ear wakes me up none too gently. I roll over and slap the snooze button on top of the clock on the nightstand and roll back over onto my back. I throw my hands up to my eyes and rub them roughly as I yawn. I stretch after that and then I practically toss myself out of bed. I walk like the living dead over to the bathroom and shy away from the bright light when I turn in on. I didn't get much sleep last night after I got back. My nerves about today kept me up. I know that the hard part with my mother is done but I still feel a little nervous about seeing her again.

I grab my brush and slowly run it through my hair, focusing on the mundane task to help myself relax. I decide to fix my hair today by putting soft waves in it. It's Jonathan's favorite way that I do my hair. I apply a little bit of makeup to cover up the dark circles under my eyes and add some eyeliner and mascara to make my eyes stand out. I grab my green stretchy shirt that holds tightly to my body and pull it over my head. It doesn't look comfortable but it really is. The moment I slip my boots on, I hear a knock at the door to Jace's room. "Come in." I say loudly.

Jace steps through wearing a plain black tight t-shirt and jeans with his leather jacket over the top. "You ready?" he asks and I stand up after I grab a stele and stick it in my shirt. "Ready." I tell him and then lead him out of the room.

"I like your hair like that." Jace says as we reach the elevator, surprising me.

"Thanks." I say shyly in response and tuck some of my hair behind one of my ears. As we step into the elevator, I remember something that Jonathan told me last night. "Jonathan told me that Father is coming into New York either later today or tomorrow to spy on us and make sure that we are doing what we are told."

"That's not good." he says with tightness to his voice.

"Let him come." I say with a superior tone. "He will just see us going to and from my mothers and just assume that we are sticking to his plan. We are going to meet up with Jonathan tonight anyway to strategize."

"We are?" he asks questioningly.

"Yeah. We need to get the ball rolling with everything if we want to stay ahead of Father's plans. I don't want him to get impatient with our progress and decide to come and get the cup himself." The elevator doors open into the lobby and we step out as a couple steps in. "That wouldn't be good for my mother."

"Then we will just have to convince her that we are the good guys, won't we." Jace says with the most innocent smile on his face that he can muster. He actually looks like a begging puppy with the way he shapes his eyes and I laugh at his expression. "I think we can do that as long as you don't make that face at her." I tell him and joins me in my laughter.

"It worked when I was five." he says in defense when our laughing quiets.

"Yes, but you aren't five anymore and don't have cute chubby cheeks to help you along." As we walk to my mom's, we have comfortable conversation. That part has always been easy for us. There aren't too many awkward silences between us. When we get to the corner of my mother's street, Jace grabs my hand and interlaces our fingers together. I look over at him and he gives me a tight smile that I return and we continue to walk the short distance to the apartment. Jace, who is always the gentleman, opens the door for me and walks behind me as we climb the stairs to my mother's place. When we get there, Jace reaches out for my hand just as the door swings open. I didn't even knock.

My mother is smiling brightly at me as the wind from the opening door blows her hair back beautifully. "Hey sweetie." she say with excitement as she pulls me into a hug. I return it whole heartedly and bury my face into her hair. She lets me go and then surprises me by giving Jace a hug which he returns with a smile. "Come in, come in." she says as she grabs my wrist and pulls me in. The smell of cooking ham and syrup fill the air as she shuts the door. "They're here!" she shouts and I look to her in confusion as to who she could be talking to when Luke steps out of the kitchen with a hand towel slung over his shoulder. "Nice to see you again, Clary." he says with a halfway warm smile. I still don't think he fully trusts me and that might become a complication pretty soon. I need to win him over.

"Nice to see you too, Luke." I tell him and give him a bright and cheery smile.

"Come in here." Mom says as she moves to the tiny table next to the kitchen. "Breakfast is almost ready."

"It smells amazing, Mom."

She looks back over to me when I say that with a twinkle in her eyes. "It has been so long since I have had someone to call me mom, it almost feels foreign to me."

My smile immediately falters and a heaviness settles over my heart. I don't know why, though. Maybe it's the fact that she said that me calling her mom was foreign to her. It's kind of like she was saying that she doesn't feel like my mom anymore because me calling her mom is strange. That thought stings like none other. She notices the upset look on my face and walks hurriedly back to me as Luke walks to the stove to take over the cooking. "Clary, I didn't mean anything by that. I have always felt like your mom. Even when you were gone."

"It's just that," I start to say, "I always felt like you were my mother. I thought about you every day and every time I thought about you, I thought about you as 'mom'."

"Clary, baby," Mom says soothingly with a little bit of worry mixed in her voice as she pulls me to sit in one of the kitchen chairs, "there wasn't one day that went by that I didn't think about you constantly. You always have been and always will be my little girl. I love you, Clary, and I will never stop loving you. Even if I were to never see you again after today."

I look into her eyes and nod my head and give her a small smile. I can see that my reaction to her statement isn't convincing her that everything is okay between us. I can see determination set in her eyes as she reaches up and tucks some hair behind my ear. "Please believe me when I tell you that I love you. I have spent the last thirteen years being a mother without any children to take care of. All I meant by what I said was that I didn't think your father would ever let me see you again. I thought that he would spoil your memory of me. Convince you that I abandoned you and that I didn't love you. I never thought I would get the chance to hear you...or Jonathan, call me Mom again." She pulls my face back up to face her because I had started to watch my hands wring in my lap. "It is the absolute best sound in the world to hear you call me mom. I swear it on the Angel."

I reach out and pull her into a tight hug and bury my face into her hair. "I missed you so much mom. I didn't know how much till I saw you again."

"I know, baby." she whispers back into my ear. "Me too."

When we pull back, both of us have tears welling up in our eyes and threatening to spill over. She gives me a kiss on my forehead and then stands up and walks back over to the stove where Luke kindly surrenders the spatula to her. I can feel a heavy hand settle on my shoulder and look up to see Jace looking down at me with soft smile that lets me know he is proud of me. I give him a smile back and reach my hand up to rest on top of his.

Just then, mom glances back at us and smiles warmly as she sees our interaction. "I hope the both of you are hungry, because I think I made too much." She steps out of the way and I can see about seven or eight omelets stacked high along with cooked honey ham sliced thickly and pancakes that smell of butter.

"I am always hungry." Jace says with a smile and rubs his perfectly chiseled stomach.

"I should have known." she says with a chuckle. "Teenage boys are like garbage disposals. Simon always eats everything I have when he comes over."

We eat breakfast with conversation mainly on the food. Luke doesn't say much, but watches Jace and I intently as we interact with my mom. My mom on the other hand, is smiling so much that I think her face may get stuck that way. Jace has turned on his charms and she seems to be falling for it hook, line, and sinker. I swear he could get away with murder if a woman was his judge.

Whenever I am so full that it hurts, I pick up my plate and help my mom clean up a little. I load the dishes in the dishwasher after she rinses them and hands them to me. When we are done, we join Jace and Luke in the living room who seem to be making polite conversation about the Lightwoods and how they are doing. I know that they all used to be the best of friends and it is probably a little weird having the past come back so abruptly after almost two decades of running from it.

I go and sit down next to Jace who opens his arm up on instinct for me to sit under, almost like he wasn't thinking about it. Like it was second nature for him to do it and I remember that I now know that he likes me. Instead of leaning back into it, I sit a little forward on the edge of the couch and watch my mom sit next to Luke who is watching me closely. It seems like I still haven't won him over. "Can I ask you why you are looking at me like that?" I blurt out with annoyance while looking at him. Mom sits up a little and looks a little concerned as she looks between me and Luke.

He scoots to the edge of the couch across from me and leans a little forward towards me. "I am still wondering why you are here."

"Luke." my mom says in a low voice to him; chastising him.

Before I can say anything else, he starts to speak again. "I believe that you wanted to see your mother again, but I don't think that is all you want."

My eyes harden towards him as Jace sits up a little and places his hand on the small of my back. Whether he means to comfort me or to hold me back from losing my cool, I don't know. I look to my mother who is looking at me as if she is waiting for me to deny it. I think about doing that briefly, but that would just put me in a really bad spot with my mom, causing her to not trust me. Our relationship is so fragile as it is, me denying that I was here _just_ to see her would destroy it.

I look nervously back to Jace who seems to read what is going on in my mind and gives me a small nod of encouragement. Too much time has passed while I have considered my answer to lie so I sit up a little straighter and square my shoulders as I turn back to face her. "Luke's right." I say with more conviction in my voice than I feel on the inside that I am doing the right thing. "The main reason that I came here is because I wanted to see you again. But I also came to warn you."

Her face that was open and kind just moments before has now hardened and I can see the warrior that dad talked so much about in her expression. "Jonathan has let me know that Father is coming for the Mortal Cup soon. He wants to finish his work and take over the Clave and the first step is get the Mortal Cup from you."

"He'll never get it." she says, malice and determination clear in her voice.

"You may think that, but he is incredibly powerful." I tell her. "He has ways of getting information out of people that you don't know about. That no one knows about except me and Jonathan."

"Well I have my own ways of keeping him from getting _any_ information out of me." The way shes says that is smug and I just let out a tiny chuckle as I rub my brow. "You mean the potion from Ragnor Fell that you have in the box where you keep a lock of Jonathan's hair?"

The look that crosses her face after I say that is one of sheer horror. Her eyes widen and her face pales considerably. "Dad sent Pangborn and Blackwell in here years ago and found it and took it back to Father. He found out what it was by testing it on someone. It didn't take him too long to figure out that a warlock had given it to you and who that warlock was. Ragnor has been a friend to the Fairchild family for generations." Her opened and surprised mouth closes with anger and her face turns hard. "He replaced the potion with water and had them put it back so when he came for you, you would still think that you had an out. You would drink it thinking you had won and when nothing happened, he would have the satisfaction of you watching him win. He talks all the time about the day he would get to see your horror filled face when he got everything he ever wanted." She stands up abruptly and turns to face the wall. "The strangest thing is that he still wants to be with you. He, in his own way, is still in love with you. When I left, he had just started to buy clothes for you and put them in his closet for when you would 'return to our family'." I use air quotes when I say that and Luke's face turns murderous towards me.

"Get out." he says lowly and with the most unfriendly tone I have ever been on the receiving end of. His body starts to shake and his fingernails begin to grow like he is about to change. Jace immediately responds by standing up and placing himself between me and Luke. Luke stands up and places himself in Jace's face and repeats himself. "I _said_ , get out."

Mom seems to snap out of it then and turns around with an angry look on her face. "That's enough, Lucian." she says to him. He doesn't falter and just continues to stare Jace down. " _I SAID, THAT'S ENOUGH_." She puts her hand on Luke's shoulder and pushes him back to where she can get in between the two men. She faces Luke and his eyes soften a little when he looks at her.

"She came here and told us what he did and what he is planning." she says, trying to make peace. "She warned me that he is coming for me and that he took my contingency plan without my knowledge. I doubt that the best way to thank her for risking herself for telling me this is by kicking her out."

"But Jocelyn..." he starts to say and she raises her voice at him. " _NO, LUKE_! You can either accept what I am telling you and what she told us or you can get out, but I will not let you make my daughter feel unwelcome in my own home." Her voice is full of finality and part of me smiles on the inside. She is sticking up for me against Luke, the man I am sure she loves. She actually does love me.

Luke clenches his jaw shut tight and looks over at me with hard eyes through the two people standing in between us and then turns around and walks to the window. My mom stands there for a second and watches him before she turns around to look at me. I grab Jace's hand and pull him back onto the couch next to me. He sits down and looks at me worriedly and I tell him "I'm fine." quietly and seems to relax a little.

I look back to Mom who is watching me and Jace as she sits down on the couch across from us with a serious face adorning her soft feminine features. "I think you had better start at the beginning." she says and I take a deep breath before I begin to speak. "We are going to be here for a while in that case." I tell her and she nods her head.

* * *

 **Alright, Clary and Jocelyn are both going to have the truth rune put on them in the next chapter and I would like to know if there are any questions you would like either of them to answer. The readers always have questions they want answered by the characters and this is a good way to get some answers.**

 **Thanks for reading everybody! Thanks to Flora for always reviewing! I have tried to write you name so many times to thank you but for some reason, it always gets cut out. If this doesn't work, I will just have to message you to thank you that way. You're awesome.**


	14. Chapter 14

"The beginning." I say as I scoot a little farther back onto the couch, trying to get comfortable. "In all honesty, it all started when you were pregnant with me."

Mom furrows her brows and I am suddenly reminded of myself. I have seen myself make that expression thousands of times and I smile a little at that thought. "When I was pregnant?" she asks with her voice portraying the surprise she feels.

I take a deep breath before I tell her about my blood. I honestly don't know how she is going to react when I tell her. She very clearly had a horrible response with Jonathan because he was different and I am a little scared that she might reject me the same way she did him. I push down my nerves and anxiety and look directly at her. "I know that you know that Father gave you something when you were pregnant with Jonathan that changed him." I look up to her pointedly and she nods her head. "Do you know what that was?"

"I have my theories but I never got definitive proof of anything."

"Well," I pause thinking about how to best tell her. The blunt truth is probably the best way so I just blurt it out. "It was greater demon blood." She sucks in a small breath and covers her mouth with her hand as her eyes open wide with her shock. Luke turns around from where he was looking out of the window and looks worriedly at her. "He summoned one and it gave him it's blood and he dried it and mixed it together with his food. He thought that he could create the perfect shadowhunter who could control demons and that he would be the father of a new race. In his journals, he says that it gave you horrible nightmares and made you sick."

"She looked like death." Luke chimes in as he walks back over to join our conversation. My eyes slide up to glare at him for a second before I look back down to my mother. "And it changed Jonathan." I say knowingly. "He is the best shadowhunter there has ever been but he has trouble relating to others. He is unbelievably fast and incredibly strong and has the I.Q. of a genius. But he struggles when it comes to relationships and that is where I have helped him dramatically."

I look over to Jace quickly who is listening with a serious face and I am suddenly glad that I told him last night. I don't think I could handle having everyone in the room reacting with surprise. I look back to my mother who is watching me and waiting for me to continue. "But I am getting off the subject." I tell her as I shake my head so I can get my thoughts back on track. "After he was born, you were so depressed and unhappy and he knew that he had messed up with Jonathan. So he swore that he would never experiment on his own children again and instead, would do it on others. When Celine Herondale became pregnant, he saw that as the perfect opportunity to try again with something different."

My mom sits up and scoots closer to the edge of the couch, looking like she is about to slide off as she starts to talk hurriedly. "I remember Celine telling me that Valentine had given her these potions to help her along with her pregnancy. She came to the dinners we would have and tell me how wonderful she felt and how easy her pregnancy was. I wanted to warn her not to take anything Valentine gave her but if I did, he would have become suspicious about me because she would have told him whatever I said."

"Father did the opposite with Celine's baby. Instead of summoning a greater demon, he summoned the angel Ithuriel."

"He did what?" Mom says as her voice goes up two octaves with surprise.

"He summoned him and then trapped him here." I tell her somberly. "He found a way to trap an angel here on earth and so that is what he did. He cut open Ithuriel's arm and took some of his blood and turned it into the potions that he gave to Celine."

"But she died while she was still pregnant." Luke says with a matter of fact tone to his voice.

"She did." I say and I can feel Jace tense in the few places where he is touching me. If he wants them to know who he is, then that is up to him to tell them. Not me; so I decide to leave out that part of the story. "But you, Mom, were still depressed. He saw the good effect it had on Celine and so he gave it to you."

All the pieces seem to click together for her then. Her long fingered hands that are exact replicas of Jonathan's come up to cover her mouth as it falls open with the surprise. For a split second, I think I see horror and fear in her eyes and a part of me breaks on the inside. I don't think I could take it if she rejected me or was afraid of me because of my blood.

Luke comes a little closer as his eyes are trained solely on Jocelyn and he brings one of his hands down and places it comfortingly on one of her shoulders. She is still looking right at me and I can see that tears have started to well up in her eyes and are threatening to spill over. I feel Jace's hand on my back as he begins to rub soothing circles up and down the length of it. The warmth of his hand makes me feel better and I lean a little into it. It feels good to have someone trying to take care of me after having to take care of myself all of these years. I feel like I have been so starved of affection these past thirteen years and now that I have it from all of these new places, my body and soul can't get enough.

"I guess I will just go ahead and confirm what you probably have already figured out." I say with a nervous and very out of place laugh for the situation. "He gave you the angel blood when you were pregnant with me." I watch as a tear finally falls and her hands leave her mouth and she catches them as they start to fall freely. "And it did have an effect on me, like the effect that the demon blood had on Jonathan. Not in the same way, but it did have it's effects none the less."

She still hasn't said anything to me and I am really starting to worry that she is going to reject me. I don't know her expressions or her well enough to pick out which emotion is on her face. I can plainly see surprise and outrage, but that is it. "Please," I say very quietly with my voice full of fear, "say something, Mom."

She wipes her face of her tears once more and then stands up and steps around the coffee table that is separating us. She sits down on it facing me and grabs my hands from where they were resting in my lap. "I am so sorry that I let that happen to you, Clary." she says with a serious voice.

"Are you afraid of me? Does this change how you look at me and how you feel about me?" I had to ask those questions and see her reaction to them to try and figure out how she really feels.

I watch her face as her brows pick up in the middle and her eyes widen just a little. It looks like she is horrified that I would think that. That she is worried that I will think she is going to hate me now. "It's just that," I start to say in a hurried voice, "I know what you did with Jonathan when you found out he was different and how you pushed him away and how you were afraid of him. That you didn't love him and I don't know if you will do the same thing to me."

Her face falls considerably as I am telling her my fears and a sort of sadness settles over her features. She takes a deep and shaky breath that hiccups in her throat as she breaks eye contact with me and looks down at my hands in hers that she is still holding onto tightly. She turns her head into her shoulder and catches a tear with it before it can roll down her cheek. "I can understand how you would be afraid that I would do the same thing to you." she says seriously as she rubs her thumbs up and down my fingers. She turns her head back up to look me in the face and I can see how the years have affected her. I notice the lines in her face that I didn't notice before when she was smiling and happy and I can see the frown lines more predominately marking her face letting me know that she hasn't been the happy person over the years that she portrays. "And I know that I have failed you and Jonathan both in ways that I can never take back. But there is one thing that I need you to believe when I say it."

She looks pointedly at me, waiting for my acknowledgement or answer and I nod my head in a yes motion. "I need you to know, Clary, that I have learned from my mistakes and I will never make them again. The biggest mistake of my life is pushing Jonathan away before I ever gave him a chance. The second biggest mistake I have ever made was when I thought I had hidden us well enough that I thought that we were safe from your father. I became complacent and he took you away from me because of it. He wanted to punish me and the best way he knew how to do that was to take what I loved away from me. I failed Jonathan and I failed you. I may be the world's worst mother but I swear on the Angel that I will try and be better. Be the mother that you and Jonathan need me to be. I don't care what your father did to the both of you. That still doesn't take away from the fact that you are still my children and that I love you. Nothing will ever stop me again from being your mother."

The tear that was building up in my eye rolls over the edge then and travels down my cheek. I pull one hand out of her grasp and wipe it away. She leans forward and kisses me on my forehead before she pulls back and smiles gently at me. "What if I were to tell you that I can do things that other Nephilim can't?"

"I wouldn't care. I would still love you and be here for you no matter what."

"Okay then." I say as I sit up a little straighter. "Here goes nothing." I say under my breath and then I begin to speak. "I can create runes." I say it quickly, like ripping off a bandaid and watch as my mother's face looks on me a little disbelievingly.

"That's impossible." Luke says as he breaks the heavy silence that has settled in between my mother and me.

"Would you like a demonstration?" I say a little tightly to him. He is really starting to get on my last nerve and every time I look at him, I just want to punch him in the face.

"In fact, I would." he says as he crosses his arms over his chest. Mom still seems too surprised to do anything other than watch me as I stand up and turn around to Jace. "Which one should I do?" I ask him with attitude that is directed towards Luke. "Which one impressed you the most? The truth rune, the accuracy rune, the portal rune...?"

By the look on Jace's face, he can clearly tell how annoyed I am right now. I love to prove people wrong and he knows me well enough to know that fact about me. "Clary, whichever one you want." he says in a placating voice.

"Did you say portal rune?" I hear my mom say. I turn around to face her again and nod. "A portal rune it is." I say as I walk over to her wall. I take down a few pictures because I am sure that she wouldn't want them sucked into the portal, and pull my stele out of my shirt. I turn around to see Luke looking very critically at me and see my mom watching me with expectation and turn back around to face the wall. I put the tip of it to the wall and draw my portal rune. At first, nothing happens for about three seconds. I hear Luke let out a tiny scoff and then the swirling starts. The wall gives way to the blue look of a portal that soon takes up most of the wall.

I turn back around with a smirk on my face and look directly at Luke's dumbfounded face. His bright blue eyes are wide behind his round glasses and his mouth is hanging slightly open. My mother has risen from her seat with a similarly shocked look on her face and walks over to me tentatively. "Is that a real portal?" she asks me quietly.

I let out a small laugh and smile gently at her. "Yes. I use them all the time. That is why father hasn't found me yet." I throw that last part in there to give more validity to my story. It would make sense that I would be able to keep out of his reach with my ability to create a portal whenever I wanted.

She reaches out slowly and touches the swirling blue of it and then pulls her hand back after her fingers brush the surface. "Would you like to go somewhere?" I ask her with a smile on my face. She turns her head to look at me with a very wary look on her face. "I can go with you if you don't trust me. You can go first while pulling me behind you and pick the destination as well."

"I don't think that is a good idea." Luke chimes in nervously from behind us. I turn and see that he has taken a few steps in our direction with one of his hands slightly extended towards my mother as if he is going to grab her and run.

"We could just go out front. That way, we can just come back upstairs." she offers and I nod my head. "Whatever you want, Mom."

Luke steps even closer to us looking even more like he is going to grab her and run even more so than before and she turns around and gives him a look that freezes him in place. Her eyes turn cold and pointed and I remember being on the receiving end of that particular look when I was a kid. It sent the fear of God running through me and I always stopped what I was doing that instant.

Mom grabs my hand and holds onto it tightly as she looks back to me with a little hesitation clear on her face. "I wouldn't let you pull me into, Mom, if I didn't know for a fact that it was safe. I have used my own portals hundreds of times." She gives me another tight nod and then without pause, steps into the portal and pulls me in with her. Within seconds, we both land on our feet on the sidewalk in front of her apartment. She immediately looks up to the building in surprise and then back at me with a look of wild excitement on her face that I have seen Jonathan get from time to time. She sometimes reminds me so much of him it's scary.

"You can create portals." she says flatly and I smile widely at her.

"That, I can." I say and then shrug my shoulders as if it was no big deal. She then takes off back into the entrance to the building and then is flying up the stairs. When I finally get through the doors, I see that Luke has met her as he rushed down the stairs with a panicked look on his face. The moment he sees my mother, his expression relaxes a great deal. She reaches him then and grabs him on the outside of his arms and with a frantic smile on her face tells him, "She can create working, safe portals."

He looks down to me as I climb the stairs at a normal pace and reach them just in time for his eyes to meet mine. I smirk at him smugly as I pass them on the steps and get the satisfaction of seeing his astonished face and then step around him. Did I ever mention that I love when people underestimate me?

When I step into the open door of the apartment, I see Jace leaning casually against the wall that leads to the living room. "You are grinning like a cheshire cat." he says with an amused smile at me and my grin gets even bigger.

"You know how I love to prove people wrong." I say and he smiles widely as he laughs at me. "That is the one thing that I am sure about when it comes to you." he replies and then pushes off of the wall as I pass and he follows me to the living room. I can hear my mother and Luke having some kind of hushed and hurried conversation in the hall and I wonder what they could be talking about. I really hope that Luke's protective streak over my mother comes to an end soon. I know he is being such an asshole because he doesn't fully trust me yet and is worried about her safety, but does he really have to be so obvious about his distrust of me? He could hide it a little better if he really wanted to.

Another minute passes before they return. Luke looks like he just got chewed out by my mother who looks a little more tired than she did a few minutes ago. I am assuming that she saw what I have been seeing and said something to him about it. Whatever she did say, Luke seems to have taken it to heart. He looks at me and gives me a warm smile that seems pretty genuine as he passes by me and sits down across from me. "I am sorry that I am being so hard on you." Luke says surprising me. "It's just that I know Valentine will use whatever weapon he has to get what he wants; and that includes his children. He has manipulated your mother's feelings before to get what he wants and I don't want to see that happen again."

"You are forgetting one huge fact, though." I tell him as I lean forward. "I. Am. Not. My. Father. I never have been and never will be. No one knows what he is capable of more than me and when I refused to be his pawn, that is when I outlived my usefulness for him. He never loved me or Jonathan or anyone else. He only loved what either of us could do for him." I turn and look to my mother then who has sat down beside Luke. "And that is why I am telling you about him. He has used my power to become more powerful than you can imagine. He had me creating runes for him since I was eight and he uses them to get whatever he wants."

Both of their faces turn serious as they realize what I am saying and my mom glances over at Luke nervously and very briefly before looking back at me. "Then what would you have me do, then? Run with the cup?" she asks sounding a little defeated.

"That wouldn't work." I tell her somberly. "He can find you anywhere you go. He has people all over the world working for him. He actually knew where we were for a year before he took me. He was unsure if I was his or Luke's," I glance at Luke who looks completely shocked and then back to my mother who doesn't in the slightest, "and he didn't want to take me if I were part werewolf. He would have just killed me instead to punish you for cheating on him. Running will do no good."

"Then what?" she asks. "Give it back to the Clave?"

" _NO!_ " I practically shout. Everyone in the room jumps a little so I calm myself with a few breaths. "The whole hierarchy of the Clave is made up of circle members. Even the Inquisitor and the Consul. If you turned it into them, then you would be handing to Valentine himself."

"Then what do you suggest, then?" Luke says with an indignant tone.

I am not so sure that this is going to go over very well with my mom and Luke. I am sure I know what his reaction is going to be along with what my mother's will be. "You should give it to me and Jonathan."

The reaction was instantaneous from Luke. He scoffs loudly as a knowing smile spreads across his face. "I knew it!" he says loudly.

My mother's face loses some of it's warmth towards me then and her mouth is pulled tightly shut as the muscles flex in her jaw. "Listen." I say before anyone can say anything else. "Jonathan and I know everything about Valentine and the inner workings of his circle. We know all of his secrets and Jonathan is perfectly situated to take him down from the inside with my and Jace's help. Father still trusts him implicitly and he just thinks that I have run away to be with my boyfriend. Like some sort of lovesick teenager. He still thinks that I will be loyal to him when push comes to shove. We," I gesture between Jace and myself, "are the _only_ ones who can do it along with Jonathan. If he were to get his hands on the Mortal Cup, he would practically become unstoppable. He plans on using it to control demons so he can use them to attack whoever he wants by the thousands."

"And what are _you_ going to do with it?" Luke says harshly as he looks at me. His face is tight and smug with what I am assuming is his correct assumption of me that I came for the cup.

"I am going to keep it from him while we bring him down." I tell him fervently. "I am the only one who can create a portal on command and disappear in a moment's notice when he gets too close. That is why he is so desperate to have me back by his side. So that he can have me under his control and see that I am 'on his side'."'

"No." my mother says when she finally speaks. "I am not going to give it to you."

Jace, who has been really quiet this whole time, scoots forward then and places his hand on my knee. I look over to him and he gives me a look of 'let me try' and I nod infinitesimally back at him. "Clary is right." he starts out saying. "Her and Jonathan are the only ones who can bring him down. I have been around enough to know that. Valentine's plans are extensive with many back up plans to cover those if they don't work out. He has had almost twenty years to plan his takeover to perfection and he has done that. The only thing he didn't plan on are his children turning against him. Especially Jonathan who he has groomed to take over when he dies. That is why he has trusted them with so much. He was so blinded by his own search for power that he didn't realize that using his own children for his personal gain against their will would push them away. He forgot to be suspicious of his own children. He is so worried about everyone else that he won't see it coming from them."

"And what would you do if you had the cup?" Mom asks as she looks at me with critical eyes. I feel like if I make one move or I portray the wrong flicker of emotion on my face that she will immediately shut down and shut me out. I look up and into her eyes with my most honest expression. I need her to know that I don't plan to do anything bad with it. That I can be trusted with something so sacred and important. "Jonathan, Jace, and I are going to reform the Clave. Do away with it's harsh policies that are unfair and cruel. Give downworlders a seat on the Council so they can represent themselves. Make it to where you won't be stripped of your runes if you want to marry a mundane and they don't want to drink from the Mortal Cup. Make it legal in the eyes of the Clave to marry downworlders and trust them and allow them to more fully patrol their own people and only involve ourselves when they ask for our help instead of just assuming that they can't handle it because they are 'lesser' than us."

"And how will you do that?" Mom is still watching me closely and I am fine with that. I meant every word I said.

"We will remove everyone who Father has put in a position of power and replace them with honest and trustworthy people of the younger generation. Ones that will support what we want to do if the older members won't." I shift a little in my spot and furrow my brows as I try to organize my thoughts. "Reforming the laws that have long been unfair and cruel are what is needed to survive in the long run. If we were more united and more at one with the downworlders and more accepting of Nephilim/Mundane relationships, then we would never be facing the dwindling numbers that we are now. Our kind is slowly going extinct without the use of the Mortal Cup and that will mean that the demons that come here will soon find Earth easy for the taking."

"Clary," she says quietly and with a tone to her voice that is slightly patronizing. "All of that sounds well and good but, the only person I trust with the Mortal Cup is myself."

"There is a way that you can know for sure that I will do everything in my power to keep it from falling into Father or the circle's hands."

"And what way is that?" Luke asks me.

"You can use my truth rune on me." Wow. I can't believe I said that. _WHY_ did I just say that? This could backfire in so many unbelievable ways. I know that what I told her that I want to do with the clave is the truth and that I really will do everything in my power to keep the cup from Father. But what if she asks me about Jace and our relationship? What if she asks about Jonathan and I's relationship? I'm not ready for her to know that just yet. She wouldn't understand.

She interrupts my internal freak out when she says, "How do I know that it will work? That it is actually a truth rune that you have on yourself?"

"I guess the only way for you to know for sure is for me to use it on you and ask you questions." Her eyes widen a little and she starts to open her mouth to protest when I hold up my hand for her to wait a second while I finish. "I swear on the Angel that I won't ask you where the Mortal Cup is while you have the truth rune on you."

She visibly relaxes a little, unlike Luke who looks like he is about to grab her and run again. "Clary, I am not so sure about that." Her voice lets me know just how nervous the idea makes her by shaking a little.

"That is the only way for you to know for sure. I would offer to do it on someone else, but you wouldn't know if they were telling the truth or not."

Her eyes grow more serious as I see her turning the idea over and over again in her mind. She is surely worried about it for the same reasons that I am. I can see that she has secrets that she is thinking about as her eyes grow distant with what I assume are thoughts about them. Father always would say that you would be able to tell exactly what she was thinking just by looking into her eyes. He said that she couldn't hide her emotions very well and I can see that now. She is scared and I don't blame her for it. My throat actually closes up a little and a lump forms at the base of it at the thought of having it put on me. The things that I could unwillingly tell her would surely turn her against me no matter what she has said.

"Okay." she says suddenly, breaking the heavy silence that had settled over the room.

Luke reaches out and touches her hand. She turns her head in his direction and before he can say anything, she says, "I have made up my mind, Luke. She has trusted me with all of the information she has given me. I should show her some trust in return." Her voice rings out with finality and he lets go of her hand and leans back against the couch. His face is wary when he looks at her and unsure when he looks at me. At least that is an improvement over the scowl that he would look at me with earlier today.

Mom stands up and moves to the coffee table where she sits down in front of me again. She reaches down and pulls up the sleeve of her floral blouse and extends her arm to me. I glance up at her face and see that it is set with determination. I reach into my shirt and pull out my stele and set it to her skin. Before I begin to draw, I look up at her and smile. "How long has it been since you have been Marked?" I ask her.

"It's been nearly eighteen years." she replies with a tense face and I look back down to her arm. Apparently, now is not the time for idle chit-chat judging by the tone she used. I slowly draw my truth rune and when I am done, I let go of her arm and she studies the rune for a minute before looking back up to me. "I know. It's weird that I can create runes, right?"

"Just a little." she says with a small laugh and then quickly regains her serious demeanor.

"Okay. I guess I will just ask you a question that I think you would normally lie about now." I say and she nods her head tightly.

"How much do you weigh?"

Everyone in the room laughs and it breaks the all too serious heaviness that had settled over all of us. She is still smiling slightly and laughing when it is abruptly cut off and she says, "One hundred and thirty six pounds." Her eyes widen with shock and she looks down at the rune again.

"I know." I tell her. "It feels like the Mortal Sword. Like the truth is being pulled from you."

She nods her head seriously and I offer her a kind smile. "Okay. Next question." I say and she nods her head again. I am sure she is afraid to open her mouth, scared of what might come out. "Do you truly regret leaving Jonathan behind?"

Her eyes turn completely sober as her lips begin to move. "I didn't until you told me about how he protected you from your father."

"Do you believe me when I say that he has the ability to love?"

"I don't know if I do or not." she says and looks a little bit guilty when it comes out of her mouth.

"Do you love Jonathan like you say you love me?" My heart begins to sink a little when I realize that all of my questions are about Jonathan. It's just that I feel like I am the only one fighting for him. That I am the only one who loves him and I want to be his defender and his champion against anyone who would doubt him.

Her lips tighten as they press together and I can see that she clearly doesn't want to answer that question. "No. I only remember him as something I could never love and I mourned the loss of the child that I think I should have had a few days after he was born."

"That's really fucked up, Mom." I tell her as angry and hurt tears form in my eyes on behalf of Jonathan. "It's not his fault that he is the way he is."

"I know that now and I want to try to get to know him." she says hurriedly once she sees the look on my face. "Once I do, I think that my feelings towards him will change."

I wipe away the angry tear that escaped my eyes as I try to push away all of the thoughts that are flying through my mind. Jonathan has had so many people who were supposed to be there for him and love him no matter what from the moment he was born. I can't imagine how that must feel to be rejected so much by everyone. I don't blame him for being angry and confrontational with people. I am sure he is afraid of their rejection of him. They don't understand him and what he has been through like I do. He deserves so much better.

I suddenly don't want to talk about him anymore. I don't want to know what she thinks about him anymore because I know it will affect the way I look at her. It will put this wall up between us that I can't afford to be there right now. I need to ask her something that she really and truly doesn't want to answer. Two things that I am sure she hasn't even admitted to herself. I glance at Luke and then back at my mother. "Are you still in love with Father?"

Her eyes widen and Luke noticeably tenses as her lips start to move. "A part of me still does and always will. But a bigger part of me hates his guts and wishes he would die." I let out a rush of breath that sounds something similar to a breathy laugh and then look back up to her. I just want to get the answer to my next question out in the open because it so desperately needs to be done. "Are you in love with Luke?"

Luke sits up looking just as shocked as my mother is by the question I just asked. His eyes are trained directly on my mother's face and Jace and I are completely forgotten as she looks over to meet his eyes with hers. His blue eyes turn hopeful as her green eyes turn surprised as the answer comes to her. "Yes, I am." she says and I can see the shock on her face at her admission. I look over to Luke who looks like he just won the lottery and has somehow turned into a lovesick teenager with puppy eyes. My mother's face flushes beautifully with blush as a goofy smile spreads across Luke's face slowly.

I can see it then. He is looking at her with so much love and adoration that I don't think I could ever truly hate him after seeing that. All he wants is my mother and for her to be happy and safe the same way that I want those things for Jonathan. All of his sideways glances and harsh looks that he has given me are because he was worried that I would hurt her again. Just like the way that I am afraid that Jonathan will get hurt again when mom sees him again. I don't want him to feel that rejection again from her that he has felt all of his life. Whether I want to admit it or not, Luke and I are a lot alike.

"Okay, okay." I say tiredly. "I don't want to puke because I have to watch old people make googly eyes at each other."

Jace, my mom, and even Luke turn and look at me when I say that with an amused smile. "It should be wearing off soon." I say to her and she looks down at her arm. "I didn't put a lot of strength into it so it should wear off within the next few minutes. You can leave if you don't want me to ask anymore questions. I think you know that it works now."

"I would like that very much." she says with a relieved smile and stands up. She glances over at Luke almost against her will and blushes as she leaves the room. Luke watches her go forlornly and I roll my eyes. "Go after her, you idiot." I say to him. He looks at me with a surprised smile and then hurriedly pushes out of his spot on the couch. He is gone in the next second and disappears around the corner of the living room.

"You made a love connection." Jace says and I turn to face him. He is smiling hugely at me and I return it with a smile of my own.

"I got tired of them looking so forlornly at each other. They were clearly in love and were just too afraid to say it. Scared that it would ruin their friendship."

"I noticed." he says with a knowing tone. "Do you think they are making out right now?" he asks with a wag of his eyebrows.

I bring my hand up and hit him in the chest playfully as I say, "Ewww. Gross, Jace. Now the image of them is in my mind. I hate you right now."

"No you don't." he says with a smile and I roll my eyes at him. Although he can be annoying sometimes, I don't hate him. He is actually the first real friend that I have made on my own. Father has always told me to act a certain way with his circle friend's kids. But with Jace, I feel like I can fully be myself and become really real friends with each other. He also seems to like me for me. His feelings may be a little jumbled right now for me but at least I know that he likes my real personality and not my 'don't piss off daddy' one.

Speaking of real personalities, Mom is going to come in here and put the truth rune on me and I won't be able to fake my way or lie my way out of it. My heart rate suddenly picks up and I can feel a light sheen of sweat begin to form over my brow. "What did I do Jace?" I ask him worriedly as I turn my body to face his on the couch. I lower my voice and lean into him so if my mother or Luke comes back, they won't hear what I am saying. "I told her she could use the truth rune on me. What was I thinking?"

His face turns serious as he sits up a little and leans closer to me as well. "You weren't thinking." he says in response.

"No shit, Sherlock." I tell him bitterly.

"You wanted your mother to believe you so badly that you threw out the first thing that came to your mind to make her believe you and now...we just have to deal with it."

I close my eyes as panic starts to slowly crawl it's way up my throat and threatens to choke me. I focus on taking slow and steady breaths and feel Jace grab my hand. "Everything will be fine." he says with his voice soothing and comforting. I grab onto his hand tightly like it is an anchor that is keeping me from freaking out. I feel the muscles in it and how they roll under his skin as his thumb rubs soothing circles on it. I can feel the tiny scars from the hundreds, maybe thousands, of marks that have adorned his hand over the years. Little details like that for me to focus on help calm me down enough for me to open my eyes again.

When I do, I realize that Jace is a lot closer than I expected. He is leaning heavily in close to me and his eyes are focused intensely into mine. His walls are completely down right now and I can see every emotion that he is feeling in his golden eyes. They are boring into mine with longing and desire that is muted by his urge to respect what I said last night. That him kissing me can't happen again. I start to lean away and he urgently opens his mouth and says, "Clary, wait." as I lean away from him.

"Jace." I say tiredly and with a tone that says 'don't say it', be he continues anyway.

"I don't know anything about this boyfriend of yours, but," he takes a quick deep breath and then continues, "I know that I have never felt so strongly for someone as I do you. Since the moment I saw you, I knew that I had to have you."

"This really is the _worst_ time to discuss this, Jace." As if on cue, I hear my mother's footsteps coming back down the hall followed by Luke's. They come around the corner and Jace leans back away from me abruptly, but still holds onto my hand. My mother must assume that we were kissing by the blush on my face that came from Jace's confession and him leaning swiftly away from me like he had done something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

I turn my body back to face the opposite couch that my mother and Luke sit down in, a little closer to each other this time than the last, and I take a deep breath to steady my nerves and to clear my head. Why did he have to tell me all of that right now? I swear he has the worst timing ever. He was a week too late to the mansion because I had already given into my feelings and desires for Jonathan. He kissed me at the worst time because he was feeling so vulnerable at the moment. And now, I am trying to prepare myself to be grilled by my mother and he confesses how he feels about me. Yep. Definitely the worst timing ever.

"I wish I could say that I am ready for this, but I would be lying." I say with a smile and a soft chuckle towards my mom.

"It's okay sweetie." she says and reaches across the coffee table and holds out her hand for me to grab. I pull my hand out of Jace's and extend my hand to hers. She rubs my hand soothingly for a second before I pull back. "I only want to ask a handful of questions."

I really wish I knew what they were so I could prepare. Father taught Jonathan and I how Faerie's talk and how they engage in 'creative truth telling' and taught us how to pick the truth out of their words. Maybe I can do something similar with my answers if she asks something that I don't really want to answer because it will paint me in a bad light. I hold out my arm to her and she looks unsurely at me. "I don't know the rune well enough. Could you draw it on a piece of paper for me. My rune has faded." She pulls back her sleeve and sure enough, you can barely see the outline of it.

"Yeah, sure." I say and she opens a drawer under the coffee table and produces a piece of paper and a pencil for me. I quickly draw the rune and set the pencil down with slightly shaky fingers. I hold out my arm for her again and hand her my stele. She studies the rune for a moment before placing the tip of the stele on my skin and begins to draw my truth rune that could very possibly be my undoing.

* * *

 **The perfect song for Jace in this chapter is _Mercy by Shawn Mendes_. It's new and I love it.**

 **I had also originally planned for Clary to answer the truth rune questions in this chapter, but if I did, it would be the world's longest chapter. It will happen first thing next chapter though.**

 **As always, thanks for reading!**


	15. Chapter 15

I feel the rune start to take effect as the feeling of losing control of myself starts to take over. I hate this. Father has done this to me a few times and I absolutely hate it. Everyone should be entitled to have secrets and keep things to themselves. This rune strips you of that right and I really hope that I didn't make a huge mistake when I told her about this.

I bite my bottom lip nervously as I look up to meet my eyes with my mother's. "Okay." I say to her. "Not really ready for this but go ahead and start asking questions." I tell her and laugh a little from my honest admission. She gives me a soft smile and then turns serious. "Let's start with an easy question." she says and my heart jumps into my throat. "How much do you weigh?"

I smile hugely and laugh. My laughter is cut off abruptly as the answer to the question she asked is literally pulled from my lips. It feels like little hooks have sunk into my subconscious and make me spit out the words against my will. "One hundred and sixteen pounds." I reply and then turn a little red. _No_ woman likes to tell others exactly what their weight is.

I look at my mother whose face turns from amused to serious as she says, "Did Valentine send you hear to get the Cup?"

Every bit of amusement is completely stripped away from me in the moment she asks the question. Shit, shit, shit. How can I spin this? I can feel the answer being pulled from me and I suddenly remember the Fair Folk. "It has always been Father's plan to send me here to get the cup from you." I see her and Luke's eyes harden instantly towards me and I continue to speak, unable to stop, "But I won't do that for him. I just can't do it." I say with finality. "I don't agree with what he wants to do and I want to keep it away from him. I want to reform the Clave with Jonathan and Jace and try to do right by all of downworld and Nephilim."

When I am done talking, my mother seems to relax a little. She isn't as relaxed as she was before this but gone is the hard way she was looking at me just moments before. "Do you think Jonathan will try and use the cup for his own personal gain?"

I am surprised by the question and start to fear what will come out of my mouth. "Not as long as I am with him. He would if he didn't have me there to manage him, but he won't do it if I don't approve of it. We are a team." Holy shit. That was close. I am glad that I am so confident about mine and Jonathan's relationship.

"Do you feel that you will be able to take down the Circle in it's entirety and overthrow Valentine?" she asks me next.

"I have no doubt that we will be able to do it with the cup and the help of Jace and Jonathan. We know too much about his operations and relationships and I know that if we work together, we can take him down without too much trouble. With my powers and Jonathan's superior fighting skill and intelligence and Jace's abilities and his knack with coming up with good working plans, we would be unstoppable against Father's circle." Dammit. I hope she didn't catch the part about Jace's abilities. I don't want her asking about that.

She sits back slightly and seems to begin to digest what I just said as Luke sits up from his spot on the couch. I turn and look at him and the look in his eyes horrifies me. He is going to ask me a question. "Do you want to, or plan to, betray your mother in any way?" Luke asks me pointedly. I let out a small breath of relief when I hear his question because I would gladly answer this honestly. "No. Never. I love my mother and I want to have a relationship with her and betraying her wouldn't bring us closer. I want her to know that she can trust me and that I want to make things right with the Clave and downworlders the best way I know how and that is by reforming it because it has become too corrupt." Phew. Another question down.

I watch as Luke's face relaxes and his eyes warm a little towards me. "Why do you hate me?" I suddenly spit out. My question clearly catches him by surprise and he looks with wide eyes back at me and then answers. "I don't hate you. I just don't trust you. You remind me so much of your father."

"I can't help that. I was raised by him." I tell him with a snarky tone. "Some of his traits are going to rub off on me." I glance down at the truth rune on my arm and then back up at him. "Do you trust me now that I can't lie and I answered your question?"

His lips turn up a little as he begins to smile. "I am starting to." he says and then looks to my mother and she smiles ardently at him.

"Just one more question." she says as she pulls her eyes away from Luke and looks back at me. "Why are you so confident that your brother, who you admitted yourself has a hard time with softer human emotions, won't betray you and take the Clave for himself? I know demons and all they want to do is to claim and conquer and destroy and that is a big part of who he is."

I swallow harshly as my hands clench together in my lap. I begin to freak out on the inside as the answer is pulled from my lips. "Because he has me." I say plainly. "As long as I am there next to him, he won't do anything that I won't approve of." Oh my gosh, stop talking Clary. You are going to say something to give away your real relationship with Jonathan. "I am the only person who has ever shown him love and understanding and he craves it from me." Stop talking Clary! I have to control this. "He knows that doing something that I wouldn't approve of would make me mad at him and he is terrified that I would take away the love I have for him and he would be alone." Don't say anything about the nature of our relationship. Just stick to the basics. "That is the last thing he wants. He loves me and I love him and we are all that each other has ever had. Me leaving him is his worst fear. It's really sad if you think about it."

Oh my gosh, I really hope she doesn't read too much into what I said. What I said could mean that we love each other both ways. I didn't say we loved each other romantically, _thank the Angel_ , and that was all I could hope for with the rune on me.

When I look back up to my mom, I can see her face has fallen. "I should have been there for him." Mom says lowly and mostly to herself as her eyes fall back to her lap. Luke reaches out and places a hand on her back to comfort her. I can see the shame and disappointment in herself in her eyes and a part of me is glad for it. Glad that she feels bad about how she treated Jonathan who deserved so much better from his own mother. I am also glad that she is more focused on herself than reading into what I said.

"Can we stop now?" I ask worriedly. "I really don't want to answer anymore questions if you are satisfied."

Mom looks back up at me and gives me a small smile. "Sure, honey. I believe you now. Why don't you go out in the hall for a moment to get away."

"You don't have to tell me twice." I say under my breath and she lets out a small laugh as I stand up and walk out of the room. I travel down the hallway hurriedly and then out onto the landing outside of the apartment. When I get there, I take a deep and calming breath and close my eyes while I sigh with relief. Its over. I made it out alive.

Just as I am opening my eyes, I see Jace appear in the door to the apartment and all of my anxiety suddenly returns. He shuts the door behind him, never taking his eyes off of me. "I have a few questions for you." he says and I slowly start to shake my head no. "Please, Jace. Not right now."

"Yes, right now." he says as he walks closer to me.

"Don't do this to me, Jace." I warn him but his lips have already started to form words.

"Do you really have a boyfriend?" he asks while looking into my narrowed eyes.

"Yes. I do." I tell him. Maybe now he will leave me alone, but just in case, I start to go down the stairs to get away from him. He follows closely behind me though. "Do you have feelings for me?" he asks as I grunt my frustration at him. "My feelings toward you right now are that I want to punch you because you are abusing the fact that I can't lie right now to get the information you want out of me. It's really fucked up of you to do that."

I hear his footsteps come to a stop behind me and I turn around and look back up at him where he has stopped a few steps up. The look on his face is one that says he knows that he has just screwed up. "You're right. I'm sorry, Clary." he says with an apologetic tone and I turn back around and continue down the steps. "Save your apologies for when I care. Right now, I am going to go for a walk so you can't ask me anything else because in this moment, I don't trust you one bit."

I don't turn around again and push through the doors to the building. In another second I am on the sidewalk and walking down the street. I am so mad at him right now. I can't believe he did that to me. The only person I would be comfortable having the rune on with is Jonathan. I have never kept anything from him, except for Jace kissing me, but that is for his own good. Jonathan is the only person I can be truly honest with. My heart gives a little tug at the thought of him and I suddenly find myself missing him terribly. I pull out the phone he gave me and send him a quick text. "Hey babe. Can you talk right now?"

After a few minutes of no response, I figure he can't talk right now. I come to a bench next to a small park after walking a while and sit down on it. I look down at my arm and see that the rune is fading slowly. I can still feel the effects of it coursing through me so I decide to wait a few more minutes before heading back to the apartment.

There is a guy walking a dog that is the size of a horse and I idly wonder where he lives. Surely he has to have a big place to fit that giant of a dog in it. I think the breed is called a great dane if I remember correctly. I wonder if Jonathan would ever consider getting a pet? It would have to be something manly because I just can't picture him carrying around a teacup yorkie like Ellie Diedonne does or stroking the soft fur of a purring cat. Maybe he would like a great dane?

"Is this seat taken?" I hear an unfamiliar voice with a french accent say. I look up to see a very tall black headed man wearing a long sleeved black button up shirt looking down at me and I am suddenly struck by his looks. His eyes are dark like Jonathan's and his nose is slightly on the large size but works uncommonly well with his face. He smiles brightly at me to show perfect pearly white teeth and I scoot over for him to sit. "No. It's not taken." I tell him and he steps around the bench and sits down closer to me than I expected.

"I like to people watch too." he says in a very attractive french accent. I look at him to see that he is watching the man and the dog that I just was and I return to watching him.

"I was just thinking I hope he has a big apartment for such a big dog." I reply to him.

"I am more of a cat person myself." the man says and looks at me. I turn to look at him and see that he has a very gentle and warm smile on his face. It is very natural and I smile back at him.

"My father never let me have any pets so I don't know if I am a dog person or a cat person." I confess and shrug my shoulders gently.

He narrows his eyes at me as they scan me up and down looking critically at me. "I think you are probably a dog person." he says after his eyes return to mine.

"What makes you think that?"

"You give off the vibe of a dog person." he says with surety. "You may be little but I have a feeling that I shouldn't let your size fool me." I smile a little when he says that and he continues. "You seem tough and feisty and cats are for calm and reserved people."

"Are you a calm and reserved person?" I ask him with my smile still in place. It seems that I just can't _not_ smile when he does. It's contagious.

"Most of the time I am. But that surely doesn't mean that I'm boring." He raises one eyebrow at me and I let out a rush of breath that sounds like a laugh. I look back to the man with the dog and watch as he throws a ball for the giant beast who then takes off after it. "You are probably right." I tell him. "I think I am a dog person."

"I'm Sebastian." the french man says and I look down to see his hand extended to shake mine. That is when I notice his voyance rune clearly marked on the back of his right hand. I look up to him surprised and he gives me a crooked smirk. He obviously noticed I was Nephilim before I noticed he was. "Nice to meet you, Sebastian." I tell him and shake his hand. "I'm Clary."

"Like the beautiful flower, clary sage." he says with a twinkle in his eye and I suddenly think that he must be player. He is as smooth as butter.

"Yes. But I wasn't named after it." I tell him and he lets go of my hand. I look down and see that the truth rune is now completely gone and I should probably get back to the apartment before they come looking for me. "I have to go." I tell Sebastian as I stand up. "It was nice to meet you."

"The pleasure was all mine. I'm sure we will bump into each other again." he says smoothly and I smile and roll my eyes gently at him and turn to leave.

I must have gone further than I thought I did because it takes me a while to get back to my mom's apartment. When I open the doors to climb the stairs to her place, I am met with Jace sitting at the foot of the stairs. He stands up quickly when he sees me and looks at me with pure worry in his eyes. "I really _am_ sorry, Clary." he says pleadingly and I take a deep breath. "What I did was wrong. I shouldn't have asked you anything and taken advantage of you like that."

"Can we just talk about everything when we get back to the hotel. This really isn't the best place for it." My voice sounds tired and slightly annoyed even to my own ears and he gives me a small nod of understanding.

I pass him as I let my feet fall heavily on the stairs as I climb. I honestly have no idea what I am going to do about Jace. It seems like he hasn't exactly given up yet and that is going to create some serious problems if he doesn't give up soon. I can't let Jonathan see Jace like this with me. He will definitely know something is up and that would just be bad all around.

I knock gently once on the apartment door to let them know that someone is coming in and open it slowly. I hear Jace shut the door behind me and I make my way back to the living room. My mother and Luke are still sitting on the love seat where I left them and they both smile at me when I go and sit across from them. "I hope that you finally believe me now." I say and my mom smiles wider at me.

"I am just so glad that your Father didn't turn you into a ruthless and heartless monster like himself."

"Well it wasn't for a lack of trying." I say with a small chuckle that she doesn't share. "If it weren't for Jonathan and my art, I don't think I could have held onto who I am."

My mother's brows raise up when I say that and she smiles at me as her face lights up. "You draw?" she asks and I nod my head. "You were always doodling when you were a kid and you were always able to draw better than others your age."

"She still can." Jace says as he sits down next to me. I had almost forgotten he was there and my annoyance with him returns. I am not one that can just easily forgive. You have to let me work through my anger myself for a little while and then I will be fine. Right now though, I am still mad. "Her drawings are incredible."

"I don't know about that." I say and look back to my mother. "But I guess that is one thing that I inherited from you."

She grabs my hand excitedly and then is pulling me up. "I would absolutely love to see some of your work." she says as she pulls me towards what used to be my old room. She pushes the door open and I am taken back by what I see. There are paintings everywhere. In one corner I see the most stunning painting of the glass towers of Alicante. It looks so incredibly real. The sun is glinting off of the glass as it sets in the distance and the sky is painted with colors of vibrant oranges and pinks and yellows. Another painting catches my eye then, and I turn to see a painting of what I think is the Fairchild manor that Father burned down with my grandparents still inside of it. It is a grand house with tall white pillars that support the second story porch that mirrors the porch down below with a bench swing on one end. The siding is a light yellow color that reminds me of a potato chip for some reason.

"Wow." I say quietly as I look around the room some more. There are self portraits and paintings of Luke and even a small one of Simon and my mother that looks like it was painted after a picture that was taken at some sort of fall carnival where the trees were just beginning to change color.

"If you are wondering where pictures of you are, they are over here." she says as she starts to pull me towards the closet.

"I wasn't wondering that." I tell her and give her a warm smile. "You are so much better than me. I can never get the tiny details just right. Like the way the light hits something or the glint in someone's eyes."

"I feel the same way about my paintings." she says with a breathy laugh. "All artists feel that way." She reaches the closet door then and slowly starts to turn the handle and then pauses for a moment. "It would always hurt to look at them when I was done so I would put them in here and then just sit in the middle of them when I was having a particularly bad day."

She swings the door open slowly and tugs on the chain that is hanging from a singular light bulb in the middle of the closet. The light spreads throughout the walk-in closet and I am rendered speechless by the sight. There are endless paintings of me from the time I was born to when I was around five. The most dominant color in the tiny room is the flaming red of my hair before it was muted a darker shade as I grew up.

There is a painting of me as I sat on the floor with a pencil in my hand and a paper under me as I smiled up at her. I looked to be about five in that one. I shift my eyes slightly to the left and see one of me where I look to be about one year old and I am holding onto a coffee table as I try to take a step by myself. I look a little further to the left and up a little and there is one of me with a serious look on my face as I look down to a book that my mom is holding. All you can see of her in the painting are her arms as they wrap around me while we sit on my bed and she holds the book in front of me.

"Mom." My voice comes out barely above a whisper and I turn around to see her in the doorway with fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "I never forgot about you, Clary." she says with sniffle. "I thought that if I ever saw you again, you would hate me and be this warped version of who you were when you were five that your father made you into."

I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her neck and she hugs me under my arms and squeezes me tightly to her. "Mom." I say into her ear. "He can't control me or you anymore and he will never be able to keep me from seeing you again. I'm not afraid of him anymore."

She loosens her grip on me and pulls back. She brushes my hair on either side of me behind my shoulders and smiles widely at me. "I love you so much, baby." she says with such fervor that there is no way to doubt her words.

"I love you too, Mom." and I pull her into a hug again. That is when my phone vibrates in my pocket. She hears this and steps back and looks to my pocket. "Is that Jonathan?" she asks warily.

I pull it out of my pocket and swipe the screen open and see that Jonathan has finally texted back. "Yeah. It's him." I say and her eyes return to the phone with curiosity.

"Do you have a picture of him?" she asks as her voice picks up a few octaves and I smile a little at how nervous she sounds.

"Not on this phone. Hold on a sec though and maybe I can get him to send me one." I look down at the phone and open the text he sent me. _"Father just left for the city. I think he took the apartment."_

"Thanks for the heads up." I text him back. "Are you at home?"

A minute passes before he texts back. _"Yes._ "

"I want a picture of you to put as my contact photo on the phone." If I were to tell him that Mom wanted a picture of him then he would say no and then quit texting me. "I want to be able to see your face when you text and call me. Can you go in my room and take a picture of the picture that is framed on my dresser of us at the beach from two months ago. That's my favorite one."

 _"Okay. But I expect a picture of you in return."_

I look up to mom who is watching me intently as she nervously chews on one of her finger nails. "He is going to take a picture of my favorite picture of us that is in my room. We took it at the beach a couple of months ago."

She smiles tentatively at me and steps out of the doorway of the closet. I look back at all of the paintings one last time before I pull on the chain and the light leaves the small room.

As we step back into the room after I shut the door, I feel the phone vibrate in my hand I look down to see a new text from Jonathan. I look up to mom and smile before I open the text. She starts to come over and my eyes widen when I click on the picture. He has stuck the phone down his pants and has taken a picture of his dick. I quickly pull the phone into my chest and laugh nervously as my mom looks curiously at me. "Hold on a sec." I say to mom and hold out my finger to her.

"JONATHAN!" I write in all caps. "I can NOT put that as my contact photo...although it is a nice picture of you." and then send a wink emoji to go along with. "Where is the beach picture?"

While I am waiting for him to respond, I quickly move that picture to the private section of my phone and hurriedly type a password to lock it there. The last thing I need is for my mom to try to swipe to see more pictures and get an eye full of Jonathan's junk. Just as I am finishing my task, my phone vibrates again. Jonathan has texted back.

 _"Hahaha! I knew you would say that!"_ the text says and I can't help but smile. Another text arrives then. _"Fine, fine. Here is your picture."_ and I see an attachment below. I click on it an up pops the picture of me and Jonathan. He is holding the camera in one hand and has his other arm slung around my shoulders. We are both in our bathing suits with damp hair. Me in a yellow bikini and Jonathan in low slung cornflower blue swim trunks that he would have never worn if I hadn't bought them for him. We both have equally big smiles on our faces with a small amount of Jonathan's blond hair falling into his eyes. It is one of his completely carefree and peacefully happy smiles that only I can get from him. His face looks light and open and I can't help but smile at it. "Here he is." I say as I walk over to Mom.

She impatiently walks to me with her eyes trained on my phone and I turn it to her for her to see. When she does, her eyes widen just a fraction as she begins to study the picture of us. "He looks just like..."

"Valentine." I finish for her and she lets out a tiny laugh. "He has your hands though." I tell her and she takes the phone from my hand as she gets a closer look at him. I can see in her eyes as she looks longingly at the picture and I think she is surprised by his carefree expression. His eyes, although almost black, are light and open and his face portrays how happy he was in that moment.

I see the corners of her mouth begin to twitch with the beginnings of a smile as she brings her fingers up to touch the screen as if she could touch him. "He looks so different than I imagined he would. He never smiled as a baby."

"Dad told me that he didn't smile much at all until I showed up." I tell her. "I guess he just needed someone to show him love and understanding, unlike what he received from dad who just treated him like a weapon that needed to be finely tuned." She is still looking at the picture in amazement and I step over to her and place my shoulder up against hers while we look at it together. "Jonathan just needs to be given a chance and be shown the kind of love that won't go away. He will be difficult and mad and try his hardest to push you away. You just have to keep coming back every single time and he will eventually understand that you aren't going anywhere and then you will get to see who I see. The Jonathan who is in this picture with me."

"Can you send me this picture?" she asks with tears in her eyes.

"Sure. Just text it to yourself."

She forwards the picture to herself and then you can hear a ping coming from her phone in another room when she gets the message. "Let me go make sure that I got it." she says as she hands me my phone back. I briefly think that my mom and I have probably cried more in these past two days than either of us have in the past year. I am not a big crier and I get the feeling that she isn't either.

I exit out of the picture to see Jonathan's text saying that he wanted a picture of me in return. I fluff my hair a little and then peak out of the room to make sure that no one is around and then step back in the room and close the door a little. I grab my stretchy green shirt that I am wearing and pull it down so that it reveals a healthy dose of cleavage and then bite my bottom lip and look sexily into the camera lens as I hold the phone up and snap a picture. When I go to check it, I am satisfied that it looks sexy enough with a little bit of my areola showing out of the top of my bra and hit send.

When I do, Mom comes back into the room holding her phone and waves it gently. "I got it." she says with a smile and then turns to leave. I follow her and get a text back from Jonathan when we reach the living room. I place my back against the wall to where no one can see from over my shoulder and open his text. _"Just a little lower with the shirt, please. I can't take your teasing."_

"Can't do it right now. Still at mom's." I quickly send that text and then walk over to my mom who is showing Luke the picture of Jonathan and me.

"Wow." I hear Luke say. "He looks just like Valentine did when he was his age. Like twins."

"I know." my mom says back to him knowingly. "Clary says he has my hands though."

"And you sometimes make the same faces." I chime in and they both look up from the phone to look at me. "It's a little freaky sometimes."

Mom lets out a little laugh and smiles hugely at me. "Hey Mom. Can you take a picture with me?"

"Of course!" she says brightly. "I was kicking myself yesterday for not taking a picture of you after you left. Luke had to calm me down so I didn't hunt down which hotel you were in just so I could take your picture."

Jace, who is walking towards us from the kitchen laughs at that and I am suddenly reminded that I am mad at him. My anger has faded slightly, but it's still there. She comes over and stands beside me as I hold up my phone. She smiles brightly like me and with a slight turn of my head to catch the right angle, I snap the picture. It turns out to be an awesome picture of the both of us. When I look at it though, I am struck by just how much that we look alike. Our eyes are the exact same color with her hair a shade of red just a little darker than mine. We definitely have the same smile and little feminine noses. The only thing that I have of Father's are his eyebrows and his hair line that is slightly more squared than moms.

"I am going to send this to Jonathan." I say and my mom's smile fades a little. "Maybe we should take another one. I look tired in that one." she says nervously and I roll my eyes. "You look great, Mom. You certainly don't look like you are the mother of a twenty and almost nineteen year old next week."

I quickly hit send and then stick my tongue out at her when she narrows her eyes at me. "I look tired in that picture." she mumbles and I roll my eyes again.

"Come here, mom." I say tiredly to her. "We will take another one if you want to."

She returns to my side and we take another photo that is she is more satisfied with. I send her that picture too and then I get a reply from Jonathan. I turn and walk a little away from everyone and open up the text. " _She looks just like you._ " he says simply and I quickly type a reply. "She does. She also wants to meet you whenever you are comfortable with it. I am in _no way_ trying to push you into it either. You will do it when you are ready and that is perfectly fine with me." I push send and then type another quick message to him. "I miss you so much it hurts. I love you."

I get a quick reply that says, _"I love you too."_ and know that he really doesn't want to talk about mom anymore. And that's okay.

"He said he loves you." I hear my mother's voice say and I jump as I quickly black out the screen hurriedly and turn around to see her peeking over my shoulder. This is why I try to always stand with my back to a wall. "You scared me." I say a little breathless and she chuckles a little. "And of course he said he loves me. He says it all the time."

"Even though I am mad that your father took you, I am glad that Jonathan got to have you in his life to grow up with. To help him not be what Valentine tried to make him be." She looks at me seriously and I can see Luke and Jace listening from behind her, a few feet away. "You clearly taught him how to love and that it was okay to love and put your trust into someone. I should have been the one to do that. Instead, it was you and I am so glad for that."

"I feel the same way, Mom." I admit to her. "There are moments when I wanted to run away and come back to you. I would get _so mad_ at Father for taking me away from you and robbing me of a mother. But then I would just look at Jonathan and I knew I couldn't leave him there to deal with Father by himself. He would have lost everything that our relationship and bond taught him."

"Thank you for teaching him that." she says deliberately to me. "I am so glad that you two had each other to lean on. It seems like you are very close with one another."

"We are extremely close." I say and then chuckle because I know if Jonathan were here, he would have burst out laughing with that remark, thinking dirty thoughts. He would whisper in my ear just how close we had been and I would probably blush like crazy.

"We should probably go." I say and my mom frowns at me. "We are meeting Jonathan in a few hours and we should go back to the hotel room and change and get ready. If it's okay, we can come back tomorrow morning for breakfast to talk more. There is still a lot to discuss."

Jace shoots me a confused look and I mouth 'father' when my mom turns to Luke to ask him if he can close his book store again. Jace nods his head gently in understanding and pushes off of the wall he was leaning on. "She's right. We have been here longer than we expected."

I look to the clock and see that it is two p.m. and we have been here since nine this morning. "Okay." Mom says as she turns back around to me. "It will give me time to think as well." she says and then pulls me into a hug. She holds me there for a long time before letting go of me. "Same time tomorrow?" she says with a smile and I nod my head in agreement.

Jace and I leave and descend down the stairs and then onto the sidewalk. My annoyance with him is still there and I am sure he can sense it. "Clary, can we just talk for a second." he says as I walk briskly with him beside me.

"We can talk when we get back to the hotel. Just let me cool off a little more." We walk the rest of the way in silence and I take the time to calm myself from him trying to get information out of me. He never says a word the whole time and by the time we get off the elevator at our floor, he jumps in front of me and I have to stop in my tracks to keep from running into him.

"Quit shutting me out, Clary." he says exhaustively. "You have these huge walls up and you won't let me in."

"Maybe that's because someone is already behind the walls." I say back to him with a little bit of sharpness to my voice. "You are making everything so much harder for us. I already told you that I have a boyfriend. I can't let you in when there is already someone there."

"Then kick him out." Jace says sounding like he is begging. "I know we could have something amazing. You kissed me back for a split second yesterday and then you suddenly tensed. That wall came crashing down again and you pushed me away."

"That't because I have a boyfriend and I am not a cheater. I love him, Jace. There is no room for you in that space. It's already been taken up. Maybe there could have been something amazing between us if I had met you first, but I didn't, and you have to understand that. And trust me when I say you wouldn't want me anyway if you knew everything about me."

I think I lost him when I said that I loved my boyfriend. I can see hurt flash across his eyes and then his walls starting to come back up slowly. I am not sure he heard anything after that.

I hate this. I hate that I am hurting my friend but he has to stop this for his own good. I am trying so hard to keep him alive and safe from Jonathan, but he isn't helping the situation at all.

"Okay." Jace says with a resigned look on his face. The tone of his voice though, portrays just how hurt he really is though. He turns and walks the rest of the way down the hall and swipes his key and opens the door for me.

I step into the room and look up to find Father sitting casually in the chair at the desk that is by the window on the far wall. "Father." I exclaim with the shock that I feel clear with just that one word.

Jace comes and stands next to me and I look to him to see him wearing the same surprised face that I am. "Hello my children." he says with a smile. "What? No hug?" he says when he looks at me and I have to remember to be the doting daughter.

I let a wide warm smile pull up the corners of my mouth as I hurry over to him. I wrap my arms around him tightly and he hugs me back as he places a kiss on the top of my head. "You just caught me by surprise." I say to him. "I am so glad that you are hear, though. I missed you." I pull back from the hug and look adoringly up to him and he seems to buy it hook, line, and sinker. "I have missed you too, Clarissa. Jonathan is always so gloomy and irritable when you aren't around."

I let out a small laugh as I reach up and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Is he here?" I ask when I lower myself off of the tips of my toes.

"No. He stayed home to complete some business for me."

"Who the hell are you?" Jace's voice breaks through our reunion and I turn to see who he is talking to. "And what are you doing in her room?"

Just as I am about to ask who he is talking to, I see a tall dark headed man step through the door. "I was using the bathroom because your's was dirty. You should really put the toilet seat up when you take a leak."

"Sebastian?" I say with surprise. It's the guy from the park earlier today. The french accent would be a dead give away if I hadn't turned around to see who it was.

"It's so nice to see you again, Clary." Sebastian says with a smooth smile as he walks over to me. I stand there as still as a statue with surprise as he approaches me and takes my hand. His eyes make heavy eye contact with mine as he raises my hand to his mouth and places a gentle kiss on my knuckles in a very French gesture. I feel a light blush cross my cheeks under his intense gaze and I see Jace from the corner of my eye scowling harshly at him.

I then look over to father who is watching the exchange between me and Sebastian and I pull my hand back to myself. "Sebastian here," Father says with a nod towards him, "is going to be helping me with a few things while I am here in New York."

"What are you doing here in New York? Did you come to check up on our progress?" I ask him. Although I am looking at Father, I can feel two sets of other eyes boring into me. This must be the second 'suitor' that Jonathan told me to expect. I turn back to look at Sebastian. "And were you following me earlier?"

He gives me a small amused smile and says, "No, darling. I was in your Father's apartment that isn't that far from here, and decided to go for a walk where I saw you sitting on the park bench." He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. "I knew who you were from a picture I had seen of you...and which I quickly saw did your beauty no justice."

I hear Jace scoff from where he is standing near the door and I can practically feel him roll his eyes. I think maybe it was because he said it with a French accent, but for some reason, I give him a tiny impressed smile at how smooth he is. "Nicely done." I say to him and his smile grows wide. "Very smooth." I add on and he laughs a little.

Father catches my attention when he clears his throat and I look back to him. "I am here on some other important business but I _am_ curious to hear an update on your progress."

I raise my brows in question and nod toward Sebastian as if to ask if I can talk freely in front of him. He narrows his eyes slightly at me and I take that as a no. "Jace and I are very close to getting what we came for." I say in answer to him. He looks to Jace then and I follow his eyes. "It's true." he says as he starts to walk closer to us. "Clary is _very_ convincing."

Father's eyes light up for a moment and he turns his gaze back on me and almost looks proud for a split second. "Very good, Clarissa. I knew you had it in you."

"Well, I am my father's daughter." I say with a fake smile and he pulls me by shoulders into him and gives me a side hug as he kisses my forehead.

"Would you like to join Sebastian and I for dinner?" Father asks and I look nervously back at Jace. We have to meet Jonathan tonight right after dinner and going to dinner with Father could make us late. It looks like I will just have to text Jonathan when Father is not looking. Whenever my dad asks you something, it is more like he is telling you to do something and there is only one acceptable answer. I turn back to look him in the eyes. "That sounds great Dad." I tell him with a lilt to my voice and he and Sebastian each smile brightly.

Father then looks a little somberly over at Jace then. "But I have an errand for you, Jace. I need you to sneak into the institute and give something to my informant there so I don't think you will be able to come."

And there it is. Father and his not so subtle attempt to get me to converse with Sebastian without any interference. Jace looks like he wants to protest but then thinks better of it and nods his head in understanding as he says, "Yes, Father."

"Sebastian and I have some things to do so we will leave you to get ready. I would like it if you would join us Jace. I could use another set of hands and another perspective on the tasks I have for today."

"Sure thing, Father." Jace replies with a charming smile and the three of them turn to leave. Before Sebastian leaves though, he turns to me and smiles a crooked sexy smile at me and I gently roll my eyes in amusement and shake my head gently with disbelief. This guy is unbelievable. I think he might be a bigger flirt than Jace.

Jace sees this and stops in his tracks to let Sebastian by and out the door. I look at him curiously because he looks a little unsure when he looks at me. I can see in his eyes then that he decides something and he steps forward towards me and quickly puts one hand on my waist as he leans in and kisses me on the cheek and says, "See you later." and then turns to leave.

Sebastian, who is standing in the doorway watching us, scoffs a little while I stand there in surprise at Jace's goodbye. He pulls the door shut behind him and I shake my head to clear out what just happened. It was almost like Jace tried to lay claim on me in front of Sebastian, as if to make him think that there is something going on between us. I can't believe the wild left turn my life has taken in the past couple of months.

The feelings and thoughts about Jonathan became too much for me and I finally gave in to him. He took my virginity and I finally admitted that I am in love with him even though it is really fucked up. I just don't really care anymore what people think is right and wrong. Then Jace shows up and I get a new 'brother' who then turns out to want to sleep with me too. And now, I have _another_ guy that is trying to woo me. For someone who went so long without any action, I now have penises flying at my face from every direction. It's like the world is saying "Here is a forbidden penis for you...and here is a golden one...and now, here is a French one. Which one do you prefer?"

I laugh a little at the impossibility of the whole thing as compared to my boring life leading up to now.

* * *

Four hours later and I am starting to get bored. After they left, I called Jonathan and told him that we might be late because of Father and he griped and groaned for a minute until I told him I was getting in the shower. We then sent some pretty explicit pictures back and forth between us and I may or may not have pleasured myself while he talked dirty to me over the phone. He did the same thing with himself and it was pretty hot. I always thought phone sex would be awkward, but not with Jonathan. The way he spoke to me with his deep and husky voice as he moaned while he touched himself...phone sex is great with him. Hell, everything is great with him.

I shake my head gently as I feel myself getting wet again while thinking about it and I walk over to the mirror to check myself one more time. I have put on the deep purple silky material dress that I brought with me. It is one shouldered and hangs over the top of my arm while leaving one shoulder exposed. It is pulled in at the waist to give me curves and comes to my mid thigh. I make sure that my makeup is still not smudged for the millionth time and make sure my hair is perfectly wavy before I sit back down on the bed to wait.

Another five minutes pass before I hear a knock at the door. "Finally." I mutter under my breath. I go to my door, grabbing my clutch along the way, and open it. Standing there is Sebastian with his dark hair perfectly styled and is wearing a dark grey button down shirt with a black suit looking vest over the top of it with matching black slacks. He looks pretty good as he stands there casually with his hands in his pockets.

"You look stunning tonight, Clary." he says with a smile as my eyes meet his.

"Thank you, Sebastian." I say with a returning smile. "You clean up pretty good too."

"I try." he replies with a shrug of his shoulders. He does that a lot. "Are you ready?" He holds out his arm for me to take and I step out into the hall.

"I'm ready." I say as I take his arm and we start to make our way to the elevator. We stand in comfortable silence as the elevator descends to the lobby where the doors open up to reveal a the same couple that Jace and I saw the other day in the elevator heavily making out with each other. I laugh a little at seeing the girl pushed up against the wall while the man's hands slide up and down her body.

The man pulls off of her and glances back to see that the elevator has arrived. We step out as the girl pushes him into the elevator and she jumps on him as the doors start to close again. "Someone is getting lucky tonight." Sebastian whispers as we walk towards the door and I laugh out loud. "I think that is an understatement." I say and he laughs as well.

"Where are we going for dinner?" I ask him as he opens the door for me and I step through as the receptionist at the desk shoots daggers at me with her eyes. She probably thinks that Jace is my boyfriend and I am cheating on him with Sebastian.

"We are going to an Italian restaurant that is run by a mundane crime organization. They keep a low profile like your father and more importantly, they don't snitch so there is less of a chance that word will get out that your father has been spotted."

I nod and he directs me towards a blacked out town car. He opens the door and I slide in and he follows behind and then we are off.

Dinner goes really well. The food is really good and conversation is easy and not forced. The topics stay neutral and Sebastian turns out to be really funny. He keeps me laughing with little funny remarks here and there while father mostly watches us. I excuse myself before dessert comes to use the rest room and when I return, my cheesecake is there along with a white dessert wine that Sebastian has ordered for us and father is missing. "He had to leave to take care of a problem that popped up." Sebastian says and I nod in understanding and think to myself, 'sure there was a problem that he needed to take care of' and I take a sip of the wine. It's a little bitter but I drink it anyway as I eat most of my cheesecake.

When we get back to the hotel, I start to feel a little wobbly. I think maybe I had too much to drink and I start to lean heavily onto Sebastian as we walk. When we step into the elevator and it suddenly starts to move up, I feel the motion a little too much and my head swings with heaviness. I stumble a little and Sebastian catches me with chuckle. "So, you're a lightweight?" he says when I let out an embarrassed laugh.

"I'm usually not." I reply as I try to straighten up. The elevator dings and I look up to see that it is at my floor. The numbers seem to be moving slightly though and Sebastian starts to pull me out of the elevator when I stare at them a little too long. "I'm not feeling so well." I say with a frown as my head starts to ache a little.

Sebastian tucks my hand on his arm and I lean even more heavily on him as we walk down the long hall. "That's okay, Clary. I can help take care of you."

"You don't have to do that, Sebastian." I say feeling even more wobbly. "I think I just need to sleep for a while." I look up and see that we are at my door. Sebastian takes my clutch from me and then digs in it and pulls out my key card and swipes it. The light turns green and he pushes open the door. I go to take a step into the room and one of my legs gives out. I catch myself on the wall right before the point of no return and stop myself from falling face first into the floor.

I turn around to see Sebastian smiling at me as he shuts the door behind him. "I will be fine." I tell him again as his face now starts to swim and change shapes. "You can go." I try to take another step and stumble and he catches me in his arms. "What about a goodnight kiss?" he says lowly to me. I look up to his face to see him smirking at me. I start to shake my head no and that makes things much worse. I feel completely disoriented now and my limbs are starting to go numb.

I feel hands on my hips and I look down to see Sebastian's hands sliding up my body. I go to push him away but find that I barely have any control over my limbs anymore and they start to feel like they are the consistency of jello. Instead of pushing him away, they kind of just flop off of his hard chest. Something is really wrong with me. When I look back into his eyes, alarms start to go off wildly in my head. His eyes are hard and sinister and I suddenly know he did something to me.

"Come on, Clary. Just one kiss?" He leans in and presses his mouth against mine. I try to turn away from him but he grabs my chin and holds my face still. I am not strong enough right now to stop him. He is pressing me hard up against the wall and I am pretty sure he is the only thing still holding me upright. When he pulls back, I try to open my mouth to say something or scream but he puts his hand over my mouth.

"Shhhh, Clary." he says to me. "We don't want anyone to interrupt us."

A wave of sheer terror and panic rushes through my veins then and it gives me a spike of adrenaline. My hands come up again and I am able to push him away. He laughs as I try to take a step towards the door but I seem to be moving in slow motion. He wraps his arm around my waist and my body goes limp when he lifts me up and over his shoulder. The world swings heavily from side to side and then I am falling.

I land on something and bounce and am able to open my eyes long enough to see that I am on my bed. I look down at the foot of it to see Sebastian smiling at me and unbuttoning his vest. "It's okay, darling. You won't remember a thing in the morning." I hear him say just before the world goes dark and a heaviness pulls me under and into a dark abyss.


	16. Chapter 16

**To apologize for not updating like regular this past week and a half and making you wait, here is another long chapter the day after I posted the last chapter.**

* * *

"Clary. Clary. Wake up, honey."

I groan and roll over in my bed. Who is trying to wake me up? Why won't they let me sleep? I feel so tired. "Clary, please wake up." It's Jonathan's voice. He's here. I smile and roll back in the direction of his voice. "I am going to give her another iratze." I hear another deep voice say and that makes me confused. It sounds like Jace.

I feel the sting of a stele on my leg and then a wave of energy flows gently through me and clears my mind a little. I am able to open my eyes then and I see Jonathan's beautiful, yet worried looking face. "Jonathan." I say with relief and a smile. When I say that, he smiles blindingly big at me and then leans down and pulls me into a hug as I lay on the bed. His arms wrap around me and my heavy feeling arms move to around his neck with some effort.

He pulls back after a few seconds as he takes my face into his hands. "Are you okay?" he asks me worriedly and I try my best to smile at him through the clearing fog in my brain. "Just a little tired. Why? How did you get here?"

"Jace called me." he answers and I see him look to somewhere behind me. I roll back the other way to see Jace standing by our open adjoining door and I see that his t-shirt is cut down the middle. I turn back to Jonathan and furrow my brows at him. "I'm confused." I tell him and he looks back up to Jace knowingly as he says, "I think you're right. He drugged her."

My eyes widen at his words and I push up into a sitting position. I sway a little as my head swings heavily and I reach out a hand to steady myself. Jonathan catches it with his own hand and steadies me. "What are you talking about? Who drugged me with what?" I ask forcefully.

"What do you remember about tonight, Clary?" Jonathan says and I close my eyes as I try to remember. I see flashes of me looking in the mirror and Sebastian arriving to take me to dinner. I then see Father and Sebastian laughing and I remember smiling and laughing too. We ate dessert and then I felt sick...and then nothing. "I don't know. The last thing I remember was not feeling too good when I was coming back here. Why?"

I look into Jonathan's eyes as they tighten and harden immensely and I can see the muscles in his jaw flex as he clenches his teeth. He pulls out his stele then and grabs my arm and then I see him start to draw my memory rune that makes you remember things that you have forgotten. It was one of the first runes I made when I found out that my mom had a warlock take my memories. I didn't want anyone to be able to do that to me ever again.

When he finishes the Mark, I close my eyes and everything starts to become clearer. I remember coming back to the hotel and the elevator ride up when I started to feel pretty bad. I remember him walking me to the door and opening it for me and then shutting it behind him. I remember him pressing me up against the wall and his hands sliding up me as I felt completely defenseless. Him grabbing my face and kissing me and then being on the bed as he took his clothes off...

A wave of panic racks my body as my eyes fly open. I look down and my hands fly to myself as I make sure I am still wearing the dress that I was at dinner. I feel the silky material under my hands as my breathing picks up, making me almost hyperventilate. My eyes are wide with fear as I look frantically around the room for Sebastian. The only people I see are Jace and Jonathan. Jace looks completely lost as he looks at me with distraught and concerned eyes. I look back to Jonathan and see his lips moving. 'That's funny', I say to myself. The only thing I hear is the loud ringing in my ears.

Jonathan reaches up and places his hands on either side of my face. His eyes lock with mine and they don't let me go. I see him take a deep breath after he says something and I mimic his action. I breathe in deeply through my nose and then blow it out through my mouth. In through my nose, out through my mouth. After about a minute of this, the ringing in my ears starts to subside and I can begin to hear Jonathan's soothing tone as he says, "Breathe in, breathe out."

I realize then that I am clenching the fabric of my dress in my hands on top of my thighs and I loosen their grip. My knuckles are aching from the effort from clenching them so tightly and I slowly flex them. "Do you feel better now?" Jonathan asks me and I give him a weak nod.

"Sebastian." I say as my voice cracks a little. "Did he...?" I can't say it. I can't say the word.

"No." I hear Jace say and I turn to look at him. "I came back to my room and I heard you making some sound like you were having a bad dream. When I opened the adjoining door," Jace stops talking and takes a deep breath then as I see pure raging anger flash through his eyes, "he had your dress hiked up around your hips and his pants down but you were still wearing your underwear."

My heart falls completely through my stomach and to the floor then. Sebastian was going to... Sebastian almost... I feel the blood drain from my face then as huge knots form in my stomach. "Where is he?" I say to no one in particular.

"He's in my room." I hear Jace say. "I kicked his ass and tied him up."

I look up to Jonathan then. "How did you get here?"

"Jace called me on your phone." he says as his eyes glance to Jace and then back to me quickly. "He told me what happened and I called Pratyush (our warlock friend) and I ran to his house in record time where he made me a portal here."

I look back to Jace then. "Can you give us a minute?" I ask him. I can see in his eyes that he doesn't want to leave me but he reluctantly nods and then goes into his room and shuts the adjoining door behind him. The moment I hear the click of the door, I throw my arms around Jonathan's neck. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me tight to his chest.

"Jonathan." I say as I begin to cry. "I...he..." I can't even finish a sentence or get out what I want to say.

He pulls back and places his hands on either side of my face then and pulls me into a kiss. The feel of his lips against mine is like a breath of fresh air after thinking about what Sebastian did to me. He presses his lips to mine over and over again and wipes away my tears with his thumbs as he cups my face.

"I'm so sorry, Clary." he whispers to me as he leans his forehead against mine. "I should have been here. I shouldn't have let him anywhere near you."

"It wasn't your fault, baby." I say fervently back to him. "It's Father and his fucking idea that he gets to pick who I marry. He left me alone with him. I thought he was a nice guy. I should have known."

He kisses me one more time and then sits back and stands up from where he is sitting on the bed next to me. "It was not your fault, Clary." Jonathan says tightly to me. I can see his eyes growing darker by the second. "It's Sebastian's. I am going to make him suffer more than anyone can imagine before I finally kill him out of pity."

Even if I wanted to, I know that I wouldn't be able to change his mind about torturing and killing Sebastian. He would never, in a million years, let anyone get away with what he just did to me. He has pure blood lust in his eyes as I stand up and place myself in front of him. I slide my hands up his chest and then up his neck and then onto his face. He looks down at me then and I feel his sinister eyes bore into mine. "I love you." I say with every ounce of feeling I have in me. I love that he is so protective of me. It is his way of showing me he loves me.

His hand comes up blindingly fast and he pulls my lips to his as he angrily kisses me for a good while. When he finally lets me go, we are both a little breathless and I can feel my pulse racing. His eyes are still the sinister ones that scare everyone except me, but I can see the love he holds for me deep inside of them. He strokes my face gently as our breathing slows and we just look at each other.

"You are mine." he says with conviction as his hand caresses my skin like a feather. "Anyone who tries to take what is mine and hurt you...they must meet the worst fate I can give them."

He kisses me once more and then moves past me and towards the door. I follow him as he opens it and steps through. I see Jace look at him and shrink back just a tiny bit from Jonathan's dark eyes and then his eyes quickly slide to me. "Are you okay, Clary?" he says quietly and I give him a small smile and nod as I start to walk towards him. When I reach him, I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him to me. His arms hesitantly come around me and then he is squeezing me tightly.

"Thank you so much, Jace." I say into his ear. I let go of him and he holds onto me for another second before he loosens his grip on me. When I pull back, I place a kiss on his cheek and then give him a small smile. "You saved me from him." I say and he offers me a tight smile.

"I should have been here sooner." he says in a rush to me. "I knew something was off about him all day when we were with Father."

"Would you quit blaming yourself?" I say with a serious look on my face. "You were here soon enough to stop him and that is all that matters."

"I owe you big time, Jace." I hear Jonathan say and I turn around to see him looking at Jace with a softer expression than I expected.

"No, you don't." Jace says back to him. "I couldn't let anything happen to her."

Jonathan smiles lightly at him and then turns back around the way he was just facing. He is now looking at the bed. I look past him to see a bloody form laying on the bed. There is phone cord wrapped around his bare ankles and there is a binding rune on his wrists, holding them together. Jonathan steps slightly to the side and I see Sebastian's face for the first time since...he...nope, still can't say it.

I strain my eyes on his face that is covered with an insane amount of blood. He looks to be knocked out. One of his eyes is swollen shut and his nose looks awfully crooked and his upper lip is split in two. His dark grey shirt is hanging loosely on him wit huge gashes in it, obviously caused by a struggle. He has his boxers on, but no pants, and I shudder a little at the thought of why he doesn't have any on.

I turn back to Jace. "Are _you_ okay?" I ask him as my eyes scan his body for any sign of injury. He lets out a tiny scoff as he says, "He pulled a knife on me but he only got my shirt. Other than that, he didn't lay a finger on me."

"Your hands." I say and point to them. Every knuckle is red and bruised and some are even cut open.

"They're fine. Just a side effect of beating him with my bare hands."

"Hey!" I hear Jonathan yell and I turn back around to him. "Hey, shit for brains. Wake up." Jonathan brings his foot up and shakes the bed violently with it. Sebastian's limp body rolls a little back and forth but he doesn't wake up.

"Here." I say and I take a few steps over to the mini fridge. I open it and grab one of the water bottles out and toss it to Jonathan. He catches it and opens the top and then pours it on his face. The moment the cold water hits his face, Sebastian's eyes fly open and he sucks in a huge startled breath. Jonathan doesn't stop though, until the bottle is empty. Sebastian just keeps sucking in startled breaths and tries to open his eyes numerous times. When the bottle is empty, Jonathan drops it on his head as Sebastian is finally able to open his eyes.

When I see his irises, a wave of fear rushes through me. The last time I saw his eyes was when he was taking his clothes off as I passed out. I stiffen a little and then I feel Jace's hand on my shoulder. I turn and look at him and see that he is trying to let me know that I am safe now. The rational part of my brain knows that but the emotional part is still trying to take control of my body and make me run far away from Sebastian.

He opens his eyes and sees Jonathan standing in front of him. His eyes go from his legs and follow the length of his body where they focus in on Jonathan's angry face. Sebastian's eyes widen a little with fear when he looks into Jonathan's eyes. His body tenses and he shrinks back from him. "That's right. You should be afraid of me. I'm Clary's brother and your worst nightmare."

"What the hell is going on?" Sebastian squeaks out. His eyes look past Jonathan and land on Jace and then he looks to me. His eyes connect with mine and I feel my fear of him shift suddenly into anger. I am one of the best shadowhunters in the world and he took that from me and took advantage of me. I stand up straighter and square my shoulders as he looks at me and I am no longer afraid of him. I am Clary _fucking_ Morgenstern. I don't cower under the gaze of _anyone._

Sebastian seems to grasp the gravity of his situation then and immediately tries to explain himself. "Clary and I were having fun when that crazy bastard over there came in and attacked me." He looks up to Jonathan as he keeps talking. "We had a few drinks and then came back here. She was all over me."

"Is that what you call it when she is knocked out on the bed with you hovering over her unconscious body?" Jace says angrily at him through his tense jaw.

Sebastian scrambles in his tied up state to sit up on the bed as I see fear cross his face. Jonathan's back is to me and Jace and I can see how tense he is even through the leather jacket he is wearing. His fists are clenching and unclenching by his sides with his effort not to kill him right here, right now.

Sebastian finally manages to swing his bound legs over the side of the bed and he sits upright. I can see the wheels turning in his head as he tries to figure out how he will talk his way out of the situation. He opens his mouth to say something and then is met with Jonathan's fist as he punches him in the face. Sebastian falls backward onto the bed as his eyes glass over. I can almost see the stars that he is surely seeing after taking a hit like that and staying conscious. He makes an indistinct moaning sound of pain as he rolls onto his side and tries to sit up again. Jonathan grabs him by his neck and pulls him to his feet with barely any effort.

Sebastian's eyes go wide in surprise and fear as a funny choking sound starts to come from his mouth. I can see that he is still able to breathe, but just barely. Jonathan turns him so that he has no choice but to look him in the eyes. I once again see pure fear fill Sebastian's eyes as he looks at Jonathan and I can't help but smirk a little at that. Now he knows how it feels to be completely out of control and completely terrified.

Jonathan's voice drops incredibly low then and when he speaks, it actually sends chills up _my_ spine. "You and I are going to have _so_ much fun together, Sebastian. You like fun, don't you? I am sure you were having fun when you drugged my sister. The only difference between my kind of fun and yours is that I won't knock you out before I start so you will be able to experience everything that I do to you. You'll like that, won't you?"

Sebastian tries to make a sound but Jonathan squeezes his neck tighter and his breath is cut off. "Can you make me a portal, dear sister? I don't want to get more blood all over this nice hotel room."

I walk over to Jonathan as Sebastian's eyes follow me and reach in his pocket and pull out his stele. I put the tip of it on the wall and draw a portal rune and it opens up. I place my hand on Jonathan's shoulder from behind and he turns his head to look at me. "Can you set him down for a second?" I ask him. He gives me a small nod and lets go of him.

Sebastian, who was on the tips of his toes from Jonathan picking him up by his neck, falls back down onto his flat feet and chokes a little as he tries to suck in deep breaths of air. I wait a little bit for him to breathe normally and he finally looks at me as he starts to plead with me. "Clary, tell him that we were just having a little fun. You wanted it."

"I wanted you about as much as I want to have all of my limbs cut off one by one." I say with disgust to him. I then do the only thing that crosses my mind then. I know it isn't some cool fighting move or done with some cool weapon but it sends the message I want to send. I pull my leg back and bring it forward with all my strength and kick him right in his junk.

His eyes widen in pain as he coughs out a rush of breath. He falls to his knees as his bound hands go to cover his private area and tears begin to well up in his eyes. I pull my fist back and snap it forward and connect perfectly with his non black eye and he goes flying backwards. His body falls heavily onto the floor with a thud and he rolls over onto his side as he chokes on the pain.

"Now you can take him." I say to Jonathan and reach up and give him a kiss on the cheek as I tuck his stele back in his pocket. Jonathan reaches down and picks him up with unbelievable ease by his neck again. Sebastian's body is radiating the fear he is feeling now and I see him begin to shake as he looks to Jonathan. "Time to go. We are going to have so much fun, aren't we Sebastian?" Jonathan says this and looks back to me with a smile. "Love you, little sis."

"Love you too." I reply and then they disappear into the portal. It closes with a snap and silence quickly fills the room. I turn to look at Jace who still looks a little unsure about what just happened. "What's the matter, Jace?" I ask him.

"Your brother. Where is he taking him?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe back to the manor or maybe to one of Father's labs where he experiments on downworlders. Father has a lot of instruments of torture at those places."

"How long do you think he will keep him?" he asks and I know what he is really asking. What he really means is how long is he going to torture him.

"Listen, Jace," he turns his head and looks at me for the first time since the portal closed. "There was no way that he was _ever_ going to _not_ die a very slow and agonizing death at the hands of Jonathan. Once Sebastian laid his hands on me, he sealed his own fate. There is nothing you or I could do to stop him. He will not tolerate anyone at all hurting me in any way. That is the only thing about him that I cannot control. Every other aspect of him, I can. But when it comes to people putting their hands on me in a way that I or he doesn't like, he does what he pleases after that."

Jace processes this for a second and then gives me a small nod. "He deserves it for doing that to you." he says in a very matter of fact tone. His eyes soften after that and he brings his hands up to the tops of my arms. "Are you sure you are okay?" he asks me again while studying my face.

I smile without any humor or joy and nod my head. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little shaken up. I didn't think anyone would ever be able to take advantage of me like that. I am a trained warrior."

"You are, but he gave you some mundane drug that I have seen being used in girl's drinks to knock them out so men can... take advantage of them."

"He probably did it with the dessert wine." I say thinking back. "Father left early to take care of something that came up and he ordered wine for us. It was already at the table when I got back from the bathroom and I thought it tasted a little bitter."

Jace pulls me into another hug then and I let him. "How could father deliver you to him like that? Why does he keep bringing these creeps into your life?"

"He is a really poor judge of character." I say with a humorless laugh. "His warped view of the world also clouds his ability to pick out who the creeps are because he is surrounded by them on a daily basis being the head of the circle. I am sure Father would pass me around to the men of the circle if he could gain more power by doing it."

Jace's arms tighten around me and he lowers his head and I can feel him rest his cheek on the top of my head. "I am just so sorry I wasn't here sooner, Clary."

I pull out of his embrace and take a step back to look at him. "You stopped him and that was enough." I tell him. "I'm really tired still, though. I am going to go to bed." I turn away from Jace's worried eyes and walk back over to the door. When I get there, I stop and look back at him. "Thanks for calling Jonathan." I say to him. "I'm glad he was here when I woke up and I am sure he likes and trusts you a whole lot more now."

One side up his mouth tugs gently up as he says, "That's a good thing because now that I know what happens to people who get on his bad side, I am determined to never get on it."

I laugh a little and then step through the door. "Goodnight, Jace." I tell him. I go to shut the door but something stops me. "Can I leave the door cracked tonight?" I ask him timidly through the half open door.

"Of course." Jace says ardently and I give him a small smile as I push the door to a small sliver of a crack and then turn back into my room. I look on my bed and see that the covers are all messed up and there are a few drops of blood on them, probably from Sebastian's messed up face, and then some more drops on the floor. I walk over to the bathroom and turn on the light and look in the mirror. My hair is messy and looks like I slept on it all night while having wild dreams. I grab my brush and pull it through my hair slowly, working out all of the knots. When that is done I take off the dress that I put on for dinner and throw it in the trash can. I don't think I would ever be able to look at that dress again, much less wear it.

I strip down to just my underwear and slip on Jonathan's t-shirt that I brought with me to sleep in. It still smells like him and I take the material and bring it to my nose and take a deep breath. The smell of him helps me relax as I crawl into bed. I look over at the cracked door and see a small light streaming through and find comfort with that as I slowly drift off.

* * *

I wake up to someone coming in my room. I hear a voice say my name and I roll over and rub my eyes before I am able to open them. When I do, I am surprised to see Father sitting on the edge of my bed. "What are you doing here? Someone will see you if you keep coming here, Dad. You have to be careful." I don't know why that was the first thing that ran through my mind, but it was.

He smiles softly at me and brushes my hair out of my face. "You don't have to worry about me, darling. I will be fine."

If he wants to think that I am worried about his safety then I am going to let him think that. Really, I am more concerned that mom will see him and then everything that I have worked for will go to shit. "I came looking for Sebastian. He never came back to the apartment last night and I thought he might be here." He looks around the room, oblivious to the fact that I tensed dramatically at the mention of his name, and then his eyes come back to me. "I am glad to see that he isn't here, though. I would hate to think that I raised you to be so lose with your morals."

I have to remember not to roll my eyes at him so he doesn't get mad and tell me that I am being disrespectful. "Well it wasn't for his lack of trying." I say and then Jace pushes open the adjoining door. His face goes from worried to understanding as he sees Father on the bed next to me. I sit up with the covers still covering my bottom half in the bed. Father looks at him and then back at me. "What is that supposed to mean, Clarissa?" he asks me.

"It means that he tried to rape me." I say with a snarky tone. His eyes widen slightly with surprise then he narrows them as I keep talking. "He apparently slipped something in my drink after you left and brought me back here where I passed out. Jace came back just in time and heard me whimpering in my drugged state and pulled him off of me before he got too far."

Jace speaks up then. "You introduced them and then left her alone with him." His tone is tight and clipped and you can clearly hear how angry he is at Father when he says that.

"Where is Sebastian now?" Father asks as he turns to face Jace.

Jace stands up straighter and squares his shoulders. "I kicked his ass and then killed him." he says with a matter of fact tone to his voice.

"You killed him?" Father asks in surprise.

I know Jace is lying to protect Jonathan and I couldn't be more thankful for that. If he were to find out that Jonathan had been here, then he would figure out there was some way for us to contact him. It wouldn't take him too long to find my phone and then figure out that he had portaled here and that I had made a portal for him to go back through. That wouldn't be good because then he would know that I told Jace about my powers and about himself and Jonathan and it would just have a huge snowball effect that would end badly for all of us.

"I did." Jace responds back to him. "He deserved it after what I walked in on him trying to do to her." He flexes his hands and father and I look down to see that his knuckles are still bruised and cut.

"Jace." I say in chastisement. "You should heal yourself."

"I needed him, Jace." Father says with an annoyed voice. "He was procuring something for me because the people I am getting it from trusted him."

"Are you not even upset that your daughter was almost raped?!" Jace shouts at him as he steps into the room and points at me.

"Of course I am!" Father responds in his booming voice. "I would have killed him myself after he gave me what I came for."

"So you would have wanted me to what?" he snaps back at him. "Let him go?"

"I am not discussing this with you right now." he says in his most authoritative voice. "Where is his body?"

"I threw him in a dumpster and set him on fire." Jace replies with ease and find myself feeling slightly surprised by his ability to lie with such convincing ease.

Father brings his hand up to the bridge of his nose and pinches it as he closes his eyes. "I guess I will just have to deal with it myself." he says under his breath and then looks back over to me. "Stay focused today. I need that cup soon."

My heart falls a little when he says that. I don't know what I expected from him. Maybe a little more concern for my well being or mental state would have been nice. For him to ask me how I was and make sure that I was okay. I should have known better. He doesn't love me. Only what I can do for him and how I reflect on him as his daughter. He couldn't have a non-virginal woman to present on her wedding day. It would look badly on him and how if he failed to keep me 'pure', then how could he lead the Clave when he couldn't control his own daughter.

"I will, Father." I reply and he gives me a nod and a tight smile before he turns to leave. "I'll see you both soon." he says like a promise and then leaves.

I look over at Jace whose face is angry and fuming as he looks at the door my father just left through. "The more I see him, the more I realize what a piece of shit he really is." He looks over to me and his face softens considerably as he walks over to stand next to the bed. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm a little tired still but I think that is because of the drugs working their way out of my system. How do mundane's stand taking those?"

"I don't know." he replies as he sits on the edge of the bed and angles his body towards mine. "Thanks." I say to Jace. "For lying about Jonathan being here and telling him you killed him."

"I knew if I told the truth you would get in a lot of trouble."

"You keep saving me Jace." I say with a little smile and a laugh. "Is it starting to feel like a full time job for you?"

He smiles brightly at me and laughs a little. "I might have to start charging." he replies and I smile back at him.

"Thank you, Jace. For everything you are doing."

"It's the right thing to do." he says nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yes, but it's not the easy thing to do." I say back.

"It is when you are involved." he says and then looks like he didn't mean to say that as he looks away from me and down into his lap.

"I guess I had better get dressed then." I say and he stands up.

"Just come in my room when you're ready." he says with a small smile and he turns and leaves the room.

* * *

When we get to Mom's house, I knock three times and then open the door. I step into her apartment and she sticks her head around the corner with a smile. "Hey honey." she says and the walks over to me and hugs me. "I hope you don't mind I let myself in." I say and she pulls back.

"Not at all. My home is your home, Clary. You're my daughter."

" _I_ always just walk in." I hear a slightly familiar voice say that is coming from the kitchen. Simon sticks his head around the corner then and smiles widely at me. "Simon!" I say brightly and walk over to him and wrap him in a hug. He hugs me back tightly for a while and I have to be the one to pull back. He pushes his glasses up his nose that my head knocked askew and smiles with a mouth full of food. He grabs my hand and then pulls me into the kitchen. "How long has it been since you had your mom's cinnamon rolls?" he asks me.

My eyes go wide at the mention of her cinnamon rolls. That is when I notice the smell of cinnamon getting stronger as he pulls me closer to the oven where they are baking.

"She made her cinnamon rolls!" I say excitedly as I peak in the oven and see the cinnamon rolling out of the top of the rolls of golden dough. I shut the oven door and look back up to Simon with a wild smile. "It's been almost fourteen years!"

"I know!" he says as he takes a bite of one.

"Hey! Where did you get that one?" I say in my most accusatory tone and point to it.

He stops mid chew and looks like a deer caught in headlights. "It was from the first batch...and I was hungry." I narrow my eyes at him and he quickly stutters out, "But, but she made some more for you and Goldie Locks. See?" and he directs my attention back to the oven.

"Simon eats everything he sees." Mom says with a chuckle as she looks at him lovingly from the doorway.

"But he's so skinny." Jace adds in as his eyes scan him from head to toe.

Simon looks a little offended and stands up a little straighter. "Don't be jealous of my ability to eat whatever I want and never gain weight." he says with a flourish of his hand and I smile hugely and giggle a little. Simon looks down at me and a small smile spreads across his lips. He seems proud of himself that he got a laugh out of me.

"I'm jealous of that." I tell him and nudge him with my shoulder in his side.

"He also just shows up whenever he wants." Mom says then with a pointed look at him.

"I told you. It's like I just _know_ when you are going to make your cinnamon rolls." he replies with a smile. "And I also guessed that Clary would be here too and I was right." His expression turns superior then and I roll my eyes. Why do guys feel the need to point out when they are right?

Just as I am about to say something, I hear the kitchen timer ding and my head immediately turns to the oven. "I'll get them!" I shout and move so quickly that Simon's mundane eyes aren't able to follow me. One second I am there next to him and the next, he is blinking and I am across the room putting an oven mitt on.

"How the hell did you move so fast?" he asks with surprise and amazement in his voice as his eyes widen as they focus in on me. I bend over and pull the delicious smelling cinnamon rolls out of the oven and set them on the stove top.

"Because I knew what awaited me over here... _and_ because I am awesome." I say with a smirk as I look over my shoulder at him. He smiles and then I am grabbing the homemade icing and pouring it onto one of the rolls. The moment it is thoroughly covered, I waist no time picking it up and taking a huge bite. "Clary, those are too hot!" I hear my mother say loudly in warning. It burns my mouth a little, but I don't care. The explosion of flavors and the memories of Saturday mornings from my childhood flood my senses. I close my eyes and smile and sigh at how happy I am right now. The only thing that will make this better would be if Jonathan were here.

"Moowwm." I say trying to talk through the food in my mouth, "these are still da best fings in da world."

I open my eyes and see that she is smiling from ear to ear. "I'm glad you still like them."

I finish that one in another two bites as Jace takes one and his eyes widen with how good they are. Just as I am reaching for my third one, my phone starts to vibrate in my pocket as Simon excuses himself to go to the bathroom. I take another bite and then dig the phone out and answer it, knowing that it will be Jonathan. "Hello?" I say as I swallow my bite. My mother and Jace are both watching me closely so I turn slightly away to get some sort of privacy from their eyes.

"Clary!" Jonathan shouts into the phone. "Father's deal this morning without Sebastian went really wrong. He wants the cup now and he is coming to get it."

This makes me go on high alert. "What?!" I shout into the phone, the cinnamon roll in my hand completely forgotten. "Why does he need it so badly right now?"

"Because he just pissed off a whole lot of demons and he needs it to protect himself. He had promised them that he would let them eat as many faeries as they wanted when he took over in return for some pure adamas that they had. I don't know what he was wanting to do with it, but he wanted it. The demons got really pissed when he showed up instead of Sebastian and everything just went downhill from there."

"Shit." I say in exclamation of my now shitty situation. "What do you think we should do?"

"Come and get me." he says quickly. "I don't like not being with you when I feel you could be in danger. Then we need to get the cup to the New York Institute. There are some pretty heavy wardings there to prevent people from portaling in but Jace has family there. I am sure he can convince them to let them down so we can get there. It will be too hard for Father to get in there without a portal once the wards are back up. It's also too hard to attack from the outside without a substantial force, which he doesn't have right now. We can figure out what to do once we're there."

I let out a breath of air trying to rid myself of the sudden stress that I feel. "Okay. Where are you?"

"I'm at the manor."

"Alright. Just give me a couple of minutes to explain what is going on and I will be there."

"Hurry, Clary." he says. His voice then wavers a little and I can tell how worried he is.

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too." he says and then the line goes dead. Once it does, I run my hand down my face and turn around to see my mom, Luke, and Jace staring at me with grave expressions. "That was Jonathan." I say.

"We heard everything." Mom says. "We all didn't make a sound and Jonathan was talking so loudly that we couldn't help but overhear."

I find my mother's eyes with mine and look deeply into them. "Mom, this is where you have to start trusting me." I say seriously to her. "I hope that will be a little easier after yesterday."

"It is easier." she replies and steps closer to me. "But I want to be where the cup is. I don't want it to be out of my sight." Her voice is flat and unwavering and I know that that is a point that she will not waiver on.

"That's fine, Mom." I say to her. "We don't want to use it. Just keep it from Father and others that would abuse it. But that is beside the point right now." I reach down as I get closer to her and grab her hand. I look more pointedly into her eyes as I ask, "Where is the cup?"

She doesn't move her eyes from mine as she takes a long and deep breath and lets it out. "I got it from where I was hiding it last night. Let me go get it."

"I'll go with you." I tell her. She looks like she wants to protest for a minute then she seems to think better of it. "It's in the bathroom cabinet." she says as she turns to walk towards the bathroom.

"The bathroom cabinet?" I say with my voice traveling up a few octaves in surprise.

"I didn't have a better place for it, okay?" she says sounding a little defensive and I start to laugh.

"The key to the fate of the world is in your bathroom cabinet." I say through my giggles. I am following her down the hall and I can hear her start to laugh too. "I guess when you think about it that way..." she starts to say when she is cut off abruptly and we both stop in our tracks as a blinding light floods out of the cracks of the bathroom door. I hear something heavy clang to the floor and all I can think about is that my father has come here by portal somehow.

I push past her and reach for the doorknob just as the light subsides. I swing the door open and look around the small room to see no one. For a split second, I am confused until I hear someone groaning on the ground. I look down as my mother comes up behind me and see Simon on the floor. He is starting to sit up slowly and he looks like he was just shocked by electricity. His face says that he is stunned and dazed as his eyes are wide as saucers as he looks at me. I look on the floor next to him and amazingly see the Mortal Cup laying there, as if he had dropped it.

" _OH MY GOD!_ " I say loudly. That is when I hear Jace and Luke come running down the hall. " _Did you just drink from that cup, Simon?!_ "

"I was looking for some floss." he starts to say. "I had some dough from the cinnamon rolls stuck in my teeth when I found that wretched cup." He looks over to it with wrinkle of his nose. "I looked inside and it seemed to want me to drink the weird glowing liquid inside of it. I don't know why I did it, but I did. The next thing I know, I'm in this glowing circle and this weird feeling is flooding my body and then I am on the floor."

My hand comes up to cover my mouth as a huge grin breaks out across my face. I look to my mom who is making the exact same face with her hand cupped over her mouth. My mom then pushes her way into the bathroom and crouches down to get eye level with Simon as he is still sitting on the floor. "Do you remember the talk we had the other night about what I am and what Clary is and what Luke is?" she asks him in a very motherly tone.

"How could I forget?" he says with smirk as he reaches for his glasses that somehow got knocked off of his face.

"Do you remember me telling you how mine and Clary's race came to be?"

"With that really important cup that is lost now." he says as he puts his glasses back on and squints.

My mom looks a little sheepish as she says, " _Well_ , it's not technically lost." and then looks pointedly to the cup laying next to him. He looks down at he cup and then back up to my mother with a blank expression and I can tell that he is missing the point she is trying to make.

" _That_ is the Mortal Cup, Simon...and you just drank from it and _survived_." I say to him with an amused tone. His face is blank for about another two seconds and then his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline and his mouth opens with shock. He looks back down quickly to the cup and then back up to my mom and then me and then back down to the cup.

"Does this mean...?" he stumbles out and looking to my mother questioningly.

"It _means,_ " she says softly as she takes one of his hands, "that you are now a shadowhunter like me and Clary. You are no longer human and are now one of the Nephilim race."


	17. Chapter 17

Simon's eyes fly wide open and he looks accusingly down at the cup and then he jumps up. "What the hell?!" he exclaims as he looks back to my mother. "Why would you just leave something like that lying around?"

"I didn't just ' _leave it lying around'_." she quips back at him imitating him perfectly. "I have been hiding it for almost twenty years now from my ex but now, we need it to stop him."

"So you just decide to put it under your bathroom sink?!" he shouts at her as he points to the cup.

The more they argue back and forth, the more I smile. I turn and look at Jace who looks just as shocked as I did and Luke who is just pinching the bridge of his nose and slightly smiling while shaking his head in disbelief. "Alright! Alright!" I shout at them who are still bickering about leaving the cup where it can be found by him. They stop and look at me then. "Well since Simon is now one of us," I say with a slight chuckle as I look at him, "he needs to come with us because we have to leave now, if you haven't forgotten." I give my mother a knowing look and her face grows more serious.

"Where do you want me to go now?" Simon says with an exasperated tone.

"My father is coming for the cup right now." I say as I level my eyes at him. "That means that we have to take the cup, and us, away from here. You, Simon, not only have to go with us because you are a shadowhunter now, but because you could be used against my mother to get her to give him what he wants."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asks with a sort of indignant tone.

Behind me I hear Jace let out an exasperated breath of his own before he begins to speak. "It means that if you don't want to be kidnapped and then tortured by Clary's father for information or be used as a pawn against Jocelyn, then you have to come with us to the Institute."

"But what's the Institute?" he asks worriedly as he takes his glasses off and looks down at them. "What the hell is wrong with these things?" he exclaims to himself.

I reach out and grab them from his hands. "You don't need them anymore." I tell him when he looks up at me. "Nephilim have perfect vision."

Simon looks at the glasses with worried surprise and then holds his hands up to us. "Everyone just slow down for a damn minute!"

"That is what we are trying to say, Simon." I say tiredly to him and grab his hand and start to pull him up. "We don't have time to explain right now. We have to get to the Institute." When I see his confused expression when I say that, I roll my eyes and say, "It's kind of like an embassy that we can hide out in." I look to my mom while I start to pull Simon along behind me as I start down the hall. "Grab the cup."

She bends down and picks it up and then opens the hamper and pulls out a couple of seraph blades that were down at the bottom. After she does this, I come out of the hallway and into the living room and walk over to the wall as I put the tip of it to it. "I have to go get Jonathan." I say as I draw the rune. When I am done and while I am waiting the ten seconds for it to open up, I look back into the room to see everyone staring at me. Simon with wide and amazed eyes. Jace with concerned and loving ones. Luke with determined ones and my mother with slightly terrified ones. That is when I realize that she is about to see her son that she abandoned for the first time in twenty years and she is petrified.

I stop for a minute and make eye contact with her and give her a sympathetic look. "Just...don't run up and hug him, okay?" I say to her. "He won't like that. Just give him his space and don't be overly emotional. It will make him feel uncomfortable because he has a hard time empathizing."

She gives me a tight nod as I see tears well in her eyes and I turn to the portal and step in. The swirling pulls me in and then I land on my feet in his room. I spin in circles looking for him but he isn't here. "Jonathan!" I shout out.

"Down here!" I hear him yell and I take off towards his voice. He is downstairs somewhere. I fly down the stairs and turn left just as he steps out of Father's office. We make eye contact and I run to him and jump in his arms. They fly around me and I bury my face in his chest. That is when I notice that his shirt is bloody. "Jonathan." I say worriedly as I step back away from him.

"Don't worry, baby. It's not my blood." he says with a knowing tone and I suddenly remember Sebastian.

"Okay, but you really should change before we go." I tell him. "We don't want to show up covered in blood." I look down at my shirt which now has blood on it from when I hugged him. "I'll go change my shirt." I turn to leave but before I can take one step, I feel Jonathan grab my wrist and spin me around. I look up at his face and his face is one of mock hurt. "I can't believe you don't want to at least give me a kiss." He makes a show of making a sad face and one side of my mouth tugs up to a reluctant smile.

"You are so needy." I say playfully as I reach up on the tips of my toes and plant a long lingering kiss on his lips. His hand slides down and he cups my ass and gives it a squeeze before he lets me go. I turn then and run upstairs with Jonathan right behind me. He goes right to his room and I go left to mine. I hurriedly change my shirt and snatch a bag down from the top of my closet. I grab my sketchbooks and pencils and stuff them in the bag along with about five steles and a few of my favorite weapons and a few changes of clothes. It only takes me about two minutes and then I run out of my room to see Jonathan in a fresh shirt and he also has a bag full of a few things.

"Are you ready?" I ask him.

"Not yet." he says wickedly and then kisses me again. This kiss is different from the last one. This one is hot and heavy and full of passion. When he finally lets me go, we are both panting and his lips are red and swollen and his eyes are alight with desire.

"Dammit, Jonathan." I say to him. "Now all I can think about is ripping all of your clothes off right now."

The smirk that he has on his face turns wicked as he looks down at me. "That was the plan." He then gestures to the wall and I turn and open up a portal there. "Let me go first." I say to him. "Everyone is at Mom's." I watch his face when I say that for any display of emotion and all I can see are the slight tightening of his eyes. "I love you." I tell him reasurringly and he smiles tightly at me. I take hold of his hand and then I step into the portal with the picture of my mother's living room in my mind and pull him along with me.

My feet hit the wood parkay floor of Mom's apartment and then Jonathan's feet hit seconds behind me. I instantly look up and scan the room for my mother and I see that her eyes have already focused in on Jonathan and her face is a myriad of emotions. She looks nervous and excited at the same time while her eyes are filled with hope and love and fear all at the same time. I turn and look up at Jonathan who is looking at her too. His eyes are tight and his lips are slightly pursed. I can see that he is holding himself back from saying something to her while she looks like she wants to say a million things to him also. I think the main thing she wants to say to him is sorry. When I look at her, that is now the most dominant look on her face.

"Jonathan." she says timidly as she takes a small step closer to him. He tenses considerably and she stops her approach. Her hands are clasped tightly together in front of her and her knuckles look like they are going to come through her skin with how hard she is gripping herself. "Can I just say how sorry I am and how much I regret what I did to you. It was unforgivable."

"It was and still is." he says tightly to her and I turn a little to him. He is still holding my hand from us just coming through the portal and I bring my other hand to cover his. I rub it soothingly as I step in front of him. I pull one of my hands away and lightly touch his face and he looks down at me.

I can tell how hard he is trying to cover up any emotion he may be feeling right now, but _I_ can see straight through it. When I look into his eyes, I can see that the hurt he is desperately trying not to show is there, buried deep. He is seeing the one person who was supposed to show him unconditional love from the moment he was born till the day he died for the first time since she denied him that love when all he did was be who his father created him to be.

I know he wouldn't want me to ask him out loud so I ask him with my eyes 'Are you okay?' and he gives me a tight nod as his eyes soften while they focus in on me. This is all that I can expect from him in this moment so I turn away from him and back to everyone else. "Jace." I ask him and he steps forward and Jonathan claps him on the shoulder as a way of greeting him. I guess he really has softened towards Jace after last night. "Did you call the Institute?"

"I did." he replies. "Maryse is going to lower the wards for exactly five minutes when I call her. I told her not to tell Hodge as well since he is Valentine's informant."

"Good." Jonathan says as he speaks up. He then turns his head to look back at me. "Do you have the cup?"

"Mom has it in her bag over there." I tell him. His eyes tighten a little at me and so I continue. "That was one of her conditions. She will give us access to it so long as she gets to stay with it."

"Did you see it with your own eyes?" Jonathan asks me disbelievingly.

"I did."

"How do you know it isn't a fake?" He asks and then shoots his eyes over to Mom.

I can't help but to let a smile spread across my face. "Because," I say with a breathy laugh as he looks at me like I am crazy, " the mundane, Simon over here," I gesture to him and Jonathan's eyes then hone in on him harshly, "drank from it and now...he's Nephilim."

"What?" he says loudly as his eyes shoot back to me and then back to Simon.

"Mom got it out of hiding last night and Simon found it this morning and for some reason, decided to drink from it."

"Well that's just great." he says as he throws his hands up slightly. "We have it for two seconds and we already can't keep it out of the hands of idiots."

"Hey." Simon says sounding offended.

I look to him and hold up my hand in apology as I say, "He didn't mean that _you_ are an idiot."

"Yes I did." Jonathan says just as Jace says, "Yes he did." at the exact same time and then they look at each other and share a laugh. I bring my hand up and drag it down my face briefly then and punch them both lightly in the stomach. "That is my friend you two are talking about." I tell them with a stern look and a chastising tone.

"But, just look at him." Jonathan says and gestures over to Simon. "I believe he weighs less than you."

"That's what I said." Jace says with a smile and then they share another laugh.

"Boys!" I shout at them and stand up on the tips of my toes and grab them both by their chins and turn their faces down to me. "If the two of you would stop your macho male bonding moment, you would remember that Father is on his way here right now to get the cup. The best advantage we have right now is that he still thinks we are on his side. If you don't want to give that away, then I suggest we get the hell out of here right now."

They both exhale a long breath of exasperation and then Jonathan says, "You're right. We do need to go." He looks to Jace then. "Call them and tell them we are coming." Jace nods and then walks over to my mother's phone on the wall and dials a phone number.

"If you need to grab anything like clothes or weapons, I would do it now." I say when I look over to my mother and Luke. She nods and then picks up a bag that looks like it already has clothes in it and I nod.

"Okay." Jace says as he hangs up the phone. "She says they are down so we need to go now."

"Jonathan," I say to him, "when we go through the portal, can you hold onto Simon for me? I don't want him to get lost in limbo and I don't know if he is going to freak out and try to pull out of someone's grip. I trust you to hold onto him for me."

"Anything for you, little sis." he says with a smile and a small chuckle and then kisses me on the forehead. He holds out his hand and looks at Simon. "Hopefully I don't break your hand trying to hold onto you."

"Jonathan." I say warningly as I walk over to the wall and begin to draw a portal. "Be nice."

"Just kidding." he says a little lighter and I have to roll my eyes. "But seriously, don't let go." I tell him and turn around just in time to see Simon reluctantly take Jonathan's hand as he says, "You have such a charming brother, Clary." in the most sarcastic tone I think I have ever heard.

"Is everyone ready?" I ask as Jace grabs my hand as he stands closest to the portal. I then grab Jonathan's hand and then Mom and Luke grab Simon's. "Alright Jace. Lead the way."

We are then pulled into the swirling of the portal and I can hear the faint girlish screams of Simon as we tumble. When we land, I am laughing pretty hard as I turn to see Simon hit the ground pretty hard and then hear a small snapping noise come from his hand when he falls forward and tries to catch himself. My mom and Luke land just seconds after him with grace and then the portal closes with snap.

I look up to see that we are in a grand cylindrical library with leather couches strewn about and a large and ornate desk in the middle of the room with papers stacked neatly on top of it. There are fireplaces on opposite ends of the library with warm roaring fires in each of them giving the library a very cozy feeling.

My attention is brought back to Simon when he starts to groan as he grabs his hand and I see Jonathan roll his eyes as I hurry over to him. "I think my hand is broken." Simon says through clenched teeth as he tries to cope with the pain.

"What in the hell?" I hear an unfamiliar voice say. I look over to see that there is an older man stepping out from a dark corner of the room with a scar marring the right half of his face making his mouth turn up into a sneer. I immediately know it is Hodge. "Jonathan." I say to him and he takes off towards him. Within a second, Jonathan has incapacitated him and has placed a binding rune on his wrists.

"Here." I say and then I pull out my stele. "Let me heal you." I reach for Simon's hand and he pulls away from me and looks up at me with wide and scared eyes. "Are you sure that that will be okay?"

"Simon, you are a shadowhunter now. This is how you will heal from now on. Trust me, okay?" He then gives me a tense nod while his eyes give away just how nervous he is. "This might sting a little." I tell him as I put the tip to his hand. I draw a perfect iratze as Simon hisses a little at the sting. When I am done, I look up to him with the biggest smile on my face as he starts to flex his fingers. He winces slightly at first and then as he moves them more and more, his expression turns into one of amazement. He looks up to me with wide eyes and looks like he wants to say something but can't find the words.

I stand up and see that my mom and Luke are staring at Hodge in disbelief and disdain as their past starts to rapidly catch up with them. Jonathan leaves the unconscious Hodge on the floor and then starts to make his way over to me. Just as he gets within arm's reach of me, the grand double doors of the library swing open abruptly. Before I can even blink, Jonathan has drawn his sword and has stepped in front of me like he is trying to protect me. That is so stupid of him to do because I am the second best shadowhunter in the world. I think I can take care of myself.

I step out from behind him as I hear, "Jace?!" come from a high pitched and girly voice. I look over to see Izzy looking at Jace with utter surprise and then Alec runs in through the doors. His eyes immediately find Jace and he breathes a sigh of relief. "I was worried that Mom might have raised the wards too soon so I ran all the way here from the cellar where they are to make sure." Alec says this in a rush of relieved breath as he walks hurriedly over to Jace.

"Would someone tell me what is going on?" Izzy says while her eyes turn into slits as Alec gives Jace a hug that he holds onto just a fraction of a second too long.

"It's long story, Izzy." Jace says tiredly as he falls onto one of the couches. Izzy looks up to see the rest of us then. When her eyes land on me, I hold my hand up and give her a little wave as I say, "Hey Izzy. Nice to see you again."

"Clary?!" she exclaims with a questioning tone. "Can _you_ tell me what is going on?"

"It's a long story." I say with a shy smile as I start to meet her as she begins to walk towards our group. "But I will start with introductions." I raise my hand up and point to Luke. "That is Luke, a former shadowhunter turned werewolf. The woman next to him is my mother, Jocelyn." I am interrupted then by the surprised look on my mother's face as she says "Maryse?" as she looks at Izzy.

"You know my mother?" Izzy asks curiously and I decide to continue with the introductions before we get into that. "The guy next to her is Simon. He is a friend of mine and a newly made shadowhunter as of fifteen minutes ago."

I wish I had a camera right now to take a picture of the look on Simon's face. He is looking at Izzy like she is the sun and he is seeing it for the first time. His eyes are wide and I can see that his breathing has become short and irregular. He swallows hard and gives her a goofy and timid smile and she stands up a little straighter and flips her hair over her shoulder as she notices the effect she is having on him.

"And that is my brother, Jonathan." I gesture to Jonathan who is putting his sword back in it's sheath. When he looks up at her, I see a little spark in her eyes as she notices how hot he is. She bats her eyelashes at him and gives him a coy smile and I suddenly want to punch her. She steps over to him and holds out her hand and Jonathan reaches out and shakes it quickly and then lets it go.

"It's nice to meet you, Jonathan." she says with a flirty pout of her lips. "I'm Isabelle, but you can call me Izzy."

I roll my eyes, hard, and then turn to see Alec do the same thing as he watches the exchange between his sister and my brother. "Now that introductions are out of the way," I say as I walk over to the opposite couch that Jace and Alec are sitting on, "I think we should explain what is going on."

"What did you mean when you said that he was a newly made shadowhunter?" I hear Izzy say and I look to see that she is making her way over to us with a little too much swing in her hips as Jonathan follows behind her.

"That is part of the story." I tell her and then look up to see an older version of Izzy standing in the doorway.

"Jocelyn? Lucian?" Maryse says with surprise and then her eyes look slightly more to her right and her eyes land on Jonathan. "Valentine!" she shouts out and takes a few cautious steps back.

That is when I see my mother walking hurriedly to Maryse who hasn't taken her eyes off of Jonathan. "Maryse." she says with a hurried yet soothing tone to her voice. "That is my son, Jonathan. You remember him, don't you. He used to play with Alec when they were babies."

Maryse finally takes her eyes off of him and she looks to my mother. "That's Jonathan?" she says with disbelief. My mother nods her head and then she is straightening up. "He looks exactly like Valentine." Maryse exclaims with a very matter of fact tone.

"He does." Jocelyn says with a small smile as she looks back to him.

"Valentine?" Alec asks as he speaks up and stands from his seat. "Are you talking about Valentine Morgenstern? The guy who tried to take down the Clave with an uprising almost twenty years ago?"

"That's the one." I admit and he turns to face me then with eyes that quickly turn into slits as they zero in on me. "Like I said. It's a long story."

"Well we have plenty of time." Alec states as he fold his arms across his chest, awaiting my explanation that he surely thinks won't be fitting of whatever trouble that I have brought upon his precious Jace that required him to have to escape somewhere quickly by portal.

"Take a seat then, and I will let my mother start out since it started with her." I tell him as I sit down on the couch. Jonathan moves to sit next to me, but as he starts to lower himself onto the cushions, Izzy plops down practically on top of me and inserts herself between me and my brother and then angles her body towards him with a smile on her perfectly pouty lips.

* * *

An hour later and my mother, Jace, and I have told the Lightwoods everything. The only sketchy part about the whole thing is Jace and I's relationship. My mother, Luke, and Simon think that we have been dating for a few months when the Lightwoods think that we are just friends. I am assuming that Alec, Izzy, and Maryse think that he just somehow got tangled up in my web somehow after knowing me for only a very short time. I think that we will have to pull them aside and tell them who he really is and how he was raised by Valentine and that is how he knows me. If not, they could end up accidentally saying something that could mess everything up. If my mother knew I lied about that, she might not trust me and run with the cup again.

The Lightwoods took the news of everything pretty well. It really helped having Maryse there to back up what my mother told them about trying to stop Valentine's uprising and how she ran with the cup after that. Alec and Izzy would have had a hard time with believing that we wanted to do go with it if Maryse had not spoken up about my mother's character. I think Alec is having a harder time with everything than Izzy is. From what Jace has told me about him and from what little I have seen, he is a stickler for the law. It took me a long time to convince him that the Clave was corrupt and had been taken over by the circle from the inside. I had to shell out some pretty sensitive information about Consul Diuedonne and his family to prove that I have had close contact with him.

And don't even let me get started on him finding out that me and Jonathan are Valentine's children. He looked at us like we were the scum of the earth when that information came out. It also didn't help for him to know that we were raised by him. To say that he doesn't trust us would be an understatement. If it weren't for Jace's heavy eye contact with him and a hand on his arm when I told him this, I am sure that our cover would have been blown with my mother. He would have spilled that we haven't known each other for long and then it would have spiraled out of control from there. The way that Jace looked at Alec was the look of a promise of an explanation at a later time, when other's weren't around. Which is why Jonathan, Jace and I are following an angry Alec as he leads us somewhere while Izzy walks on the other side of Jonathan than me.

We make a few turns as we walk in silence and then he finally reaches down for a doorknob and pushes the door to some room open. I follow Alec and Jace through the door with Jonathan and Izzy following behind me. I take a survey of my surroundings and see that it is a decent sized office. There is a small couch for two people directly to the left when you walk in and then there is another one just like it along the left wall making a sort of sitting area with a small table in the middle. Straight ahead there is a desk and two wing back leather chairs in front of it and a long bookcase along the right wall with a window right in the middle of it and a cushioned seat in the window sill of it.

"Alright Jace Wayland, tell me what is going on." Alec demands as soon as Izzy shuts the door. Jace leisurely takes a seat on the couch that is along the far left wall and I take a seat on the couch right to the left of the door, adjacent to the couch Jace is on. Jonathan then joins me and Izzy stretches out like a cat in the window seat. Alec is standing in the middle of the room and is as tense as a taught bowstring.

"That's not my name." Jace says with a sigh and a little bit of pain in his voice.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alec demands with an angry tone. "I know who you are. You're Jace Wayland."

"And that is where you are wrong." Jace says and leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he looks down at the knife he is now nervously twirling in his hands. "I don't have a name."

"Stop doing that Jace." Alec says as he takes away the knife in his hands. "Look at me and tell me what you are talking about."

Jace looks up at him then and I can see in his eyes just how tired and defeated he feels. The news about who he really is must have affected him more than he let on because all I can see in his eyes now is pain. "My father isn't Michael Wayland. That was a lie I was fed by Valentine while growing up." Alec furrows his brows in confusion and looks like he wants to ask him something but keeps his mouth shut. "My real parents are Steven and Celine Herondale. They both died before I was born. Valentine took me and raised me as his own and told me he was Michael Wayland. I never thought to question him about who he was. We lived such a secluded life. We never had anyone over other than the servants and a handful of other people around us. My mother killed herself while she was pregnant with me upon finding out my father had been killed. Hodge and Valentine cut me out of my mother's dead body and took me after that."

"But why would he do that?" Izzy says from her perch by the window.

"Because he had experimented on me while I was still in my mother's womb." Jace replies with an angry edge to his voice. "I can't explain everything now, it will take too long, but I will tell you both what I mean by that later. Right now, I need you both to focus on what I am about to tell you."

"But Jace." Alec says to him with a much softer voice. His face has softened considerably as he walks over to the couch and sits down next to Jace who is now looking down at his hands. He has picked up a paper weight from the table in front of us and is anxiously turning it over and over in his hands. "What you are saying..."

"Doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things." Jace finishes with a harsh tone in his voice. "What matters right now is that Clary's mother and the werewolf and the mundane, Simon, think that Clary and I are boyfriend and girlfriend and are in love. It is important for them to keep thinking that or everything will all go to hell. Her mother will lose her trust in us and run with the cup again only to be found by Valentine and then everything we have worked for will be for nothing."

"I don't understand how that would matter..." Alec starts to say but Jace abruptly cuts him off. "It does matter." he says harshly to him. Jace sighs heavily and then runs a hand through his hair and then looks over to me and Jonathan. "Can you give us some time?" and he nods towards Izzy and Alec.

"Of course." I say as Jonathan and I stand up. Jonathan looks pointedly to him then and mouths 'only you' to him and Jace nods in understanding. There is no need for Izzy and Alec to know about mine and Jonathan's blood as well.

"Just go back the way you came." Jace says as I grab the doorknob. "After the library, there will be a hall to your left. When you get to the end of that one, turn left again and my room is the third on the right. Clary, you might want to take a room close to mine to keep up appearances."

I give him a small smile and a quick nod before Jonathan and I step out into the hallway. The moment the door is shut, I fall back onto the wall next to it and close my eyes. I feel Jonathan's hands slide up my arms and come to rest on my shoulders. "This has been the longest day ever." I say to him without opening my eyes. The next thing I feel is his lips gently touching mine. They linger there for a moment before he pulls back. I open my eyes and smile gently up at him. "I've missed having you here to help me de-stress after long days."

"And how do you want to de-stress today?" Jonathan asks with a huskiness to his voice. One of his hands slides up and onto my neck as his long fingers slide into the hair at the base of my neck. I tilt my head into his hand and expose my neck to him. I'm not worried about getting caught because Jonathan's hearing is supernatural and he would pull away long before anyone got remotely close to us.

He bends down and places a soft kiss at the base of my neck and then drags his lips up a little further gently, making them feel like feathers rather than lips. He kisses me gently again midway up my neck and I can't help but let a contented sigh leave my mouth. He grazes them up a little more and places another soft kiss under my ear, right at the curve of my jaw as his other hand slips under the hem of my shirt. His fingers drag across the skin at my waist making a shiver go up my body that stems from his touch. "Jonathan." I say on an exhale of breath.

"Yes, my dear sister." he whispers in my ear. His hot breath blows the tiny hairs there and tickles me.

"We should wait till at least tonight before we let ourselves go." I say back to him and he sighs heavily. "Believe me," I say as I turn my face to his and look into his eyes, " _I want to_. But we really should wait."

"If it were anyone else," he says and I can hear in his voice just how much he is holding back, "I would take you right here and right now, no matter what you said."

"I know." I say as I touch his face. "But it _is_ me." He takes another deep breath and closes his eyes as he lets his forehead rest on mine. "It's been a while since we have really let ourselves go in training." I say to him. "Do you want to go train for a while? Let out your frustrations?"

He lifts his head up and I can see a glint in his eyes as he smirks down at me. "I wouldn't mind pinning you on the ground over and over again while your chest heaves up and down against mine."

I roll my eyes and reluctantly grin at him. "Come on you horny bastard." I say and grab his hand and pull him back down the hall.

After claiming our rooms, mine right beside Jace's and Jonathan's across from mine, I change into the training clothes I grabbed from home. It is a black spandex tank top and black spandex crop yoga pants to match. Jonathan looks similar in a black wife beater and black training pants. I have pulled my hair up into a messy bun on the top of my head and we make our way to the training room. When we went by the library earlier, Maryse had put Hodge in a Malachai configuration and Jonathan has snuck in there and scared him shitless telling him to keep his mouth shut about everything.

By the time we make it to the training room, I am in full training mode and am already planning my first attack on him. After taping up my knuckles and stretching, I grab a staff and Jonathan grabs some nun-chucks and gives me his most wicked smile as he starts to swing them around. This is such a turn on for him.

An hour and a half later, we have both worked up a hell of a sweat. Some of my hair has come loose and is stuck to my forehead and it is the same with Jonathan. Some of his hair is stuck to his forehead with sweat while he has discarded his shirt some time ago. Just as he is coming at me again after I kicked him away, I hear the door to the training room open. I turn my head for a split second to see who it is only to be knocked on my back by Jonathan. I huff out a rush of breath and look up to his triumphant smiling face. "Ten." he says wickedly, telling me how many times he has pinned me. I have only gotten him four times and I think am holding my own pretty well.

"Ooooo." I hear a deep voice say. "That looks like it hurt." I look over to see Jace with a smile on his face as he tries to hold back his laughter. Behind him are Izzy and Alec who are both smiling; but for completely different reasons. Alec looks like he enjoyed seeing me thrown on my back because I am pretty sure he hates me while Izzy is smiling as she looks at Jonathan like he is a piece of delicious meat. I know that his superior fighting skills are a turn on to most women and although I like her, I want to punch her right in the face right now. I was hoping finding out that Jonathan was Valentine Morgenstern's son would deter her from him. Instead, I think she is even more attracted to him. I vaguely remember Jace saying that she has a thing for dating guys that her parents don't approve of and I am pretty certain that Valentine's son would fall into that category.

I shove Jonathan off of me as he chuckles a little at my sour face and hop up. "Like you have ever fared any better." I say back to Jace with a wicked smirk. The grin he was sporting is immediately dampened and Jonathan lets out a small chuckle of his own.

"I remember saying how much I would love to see Jace put flat on his back by you, Clary, not too long ago." Izzy says with a smile and an expectant tone.

"That shouldn't be a problem." I say with a knowing smile as Jace immediately takes off the jacket he is wearing. He tosses it to the side and then holds a finger up as he jogs into the adjoining bathroom and disappears into it. He swings the door open about thirty seconds later wearing training pants and a white undershirt and is flexing and stretching as he walks over to me with a smirk on his lips.

"It's funny how you still think you can take me." I say to him as Jonathan steps off of the mat with a knowing smile. He has seen me fight Jace enough to know that while Jace may think he knows all of my moves, he actually doesn't know the half of them.

"Well I find it funny that you still think you are invincible." he retorts as he reaches me.

"Not invincible." I say as I take a fighting stance. "Just better than you." and he lunges at me. I easily dodge him and another thirty seconds pass before I am able to throw him to the ground with my foot on his throat. I pull it back and do a victorious fist pump in the air as he humbly smiles as he stands up.

"Holy shit, that was awesome." Izzy says with a very satisfied smile on her face. "Do it again!" she shouts excitedly. "Jace could use another knock down off of his high horse."

Jonathan and I laugh as we look to Jace who is studiously glaring at me. "Trust me." I say as I look to Jace. "He has been knocked down plenty of times by the both of us." I look over to Jonathan who actually has one of his real amused smiles on his face. Not one of his fake ones.

"He's slowly getting better though." Jonathan offers and folds his arms across his chest as he smiles over at Jace.

"But seriously, do it again." Izzy says excitedly and I laugh. I glance to Alec who after he looked surprised by my 'performance', has returned to sulking over by the door.

"Alright." I say tiredly. "I'll try to go a little easier on him this time."

Jace huffs and gets ready for my attack. "Don't bother." he says and then lunges for me.

After a round of ten matches, Jace has only got the better of me once. I can see just how proud Jonathan is of me every time I look over at him.

"My turn." Jonathan says as he walks forward. Jace, who is slightly out of breath from our last match, looks over at him and sighs heavily. "It's alright Jace," Jonathan says with an amused smile, "I'll go easy on you."

"Don't bother." he says as he smiles back at him. "I'll never get better if you do."

Another agonizing fifteen minutes later and I think that Jace has finally had enough. He just can't seem to get the upper hand on Jonathan no matter what he tries. Jonathan just happens to be stronger and faster than him and probably always will be. Jonathan holds a hand out for Jace and pulls him up and onto his feet. "That was an awesome move, man." Jace says as he rubs his sore shoulder. "You are going to have to teach me that."

"It's a lot simpler than you would think." he says as he claps him on the back.

I smile at the two of them as they start to talk 'shop' with one another. This is what I wanted for Jonathan. I know that they could be good friends and now that Jace knows everything about Jonathan, I think it will be easier for them for forge a bond with one another.

"Jonathan." Izzy says as she sashays her way over to us. Jonathan stops mid sentence with Jace and looks up to her questioningly. "I was wondering if you could give me some lessons. Maybe teach me a few of the moves I saw you use today. Especially that one where you pinned Jace to the mat with your chest. It would have to be after dinner though." She looks over to the clock on the wall which reads seven-fifteen. "Mom always has dinner ready at eight. We could skip dessert and come back here for a private lesson afterwards."

Oh, for the love of everything holy! The last thing I need is some other girl throwing herself at Jonathan like always. He is mine now. Trust me, if anyone knows how hot and sexy Jonathan is, it's me. But that still doesn't mean that I like that other people, especially incredibly beautiful women like Izzy, noticing just _how_ hot he is and then try to bed him.

"Actually," Jonathan says with a disinterested smirk, "Clary would probably be a better teacher for you. She has more patience than me."

Izzy's face immediately falls for a second before she covers it up with a friendly smile at me. "That sounds great." she says with fake excitement as she saunters over to me, swinging her hips. She takes my hand and interlaces her fingers in mine as she starts to lead me over to the doors to the training room. "We can have girl talk while we go get ready for dinner."

We barely make it into the hall before Izzy launches into her interrogation of me. "So...," Izzy says as she looks down at me from her tall height, "does your brother have a girlfriend?"

I sigh heavily and roll my eyes at her and shrug my shoulders. "I don't know." I tell her. I don't want to contradict anything that Jonathan might say so I just try to stay neutral. "He has a lot of 'lady friends' but I don't know if he considers one of them his girlfriend."

"Well that is promising." she says as she looks back up and down the long hall. "What is his type?"

"Come on, Izzy." I whine at her. "I don't want to talk about this. Every friend I have ever had has tried to get in my brother's pants and it gets kinda of old after a while. I never know if they actually want to be friends with me or just to get information out of me on how they can land Jonathan."

Izzy's face goes from flat to horrified and then to apologetic in a matter of seconds. "Oh, Clary, I didn't mean for me to come off that way." She steps in front of me to get me to stop and looks me in the eyes. "You're right. I shouldn't have asked you. I don't want you to think that I am only speaking to you to get information about your brother. I actually think we could be friends. Even from how little we have interacted, I like what I have seen about you so far. I honestly do."

Her big brown eyes as they look down at me are swimming with an apology. Maybe she actually feels bad about trying to hit me up about my brother. I honestly don't think I can take her talking about how hot Jonathan is and how she wants to do 'things' with him. I might just end up kicking her ass if I had to listen to that. My patience can only go so far. "I like you too, Izzy." I say back to her. "I don't like helpless and weak girls who are constantly searching for some big man to save them. They get on my last nerves and I don't think you are that type."

"Hell no." Izzy says with emphasis and she narrows her eyes at me. I smile as I continue. "I want to be friends with you as well. There are just some things that are going to have to be off limits...and that is talking about how hot my brother is."

Izzy smiles at me and then rejoins me at my side as she grabs my hand again and starts to pull me along further down the hall. "I think that is fair enough." she says with a wink and I sigh in relief. "And anyway," she adds on after a minute of silent walking, "I have always been able to get what I want perfectly fine on my own."

My whole body tenses when she says that I am suddenly glad that I have fallen a step behind and let go of her hand or else I am sure it would be broken from me squeezing it so hard. She looks back at me and I have to remember to play my role and I roll my eyes at her in exasperation as she smiles mischievously at me.

I shower in her bathroom and then slip on a long tight black shirt of hers and wear it as a dress because I am the height of a leprechaun compared to her. She pulls my hair up into a soft braid and then pins it on top of my head. Izzy puts on a ridiculously sexy and low cut red shirt and a sort of school girl type skirt and leaves her long black hair down and flowing. She puts on some red lipstick that makes her look like she just stepped out of the forties and I want to hit her. She looks absolutely beautiful while I look like a child when I stand next to her. Don't get me wrong, I have curves, but they aren't as voluptuous as hers are.

By the time we are done, it is three minutes till eight and leaves us just enough time to make it to the kitchen for dinner. Izzy opens her bedroom door and finds Jace there leaning on the wall across from her door. "It's about time." he says as she steps out of the room. I follow after her and am completely surprised when I see Jace stand up a little straighter when he sees me. I look down at myself and see that I don't look all that great in this shirt/dress thing although his eyes say otherwise.

Just as I am about to ask him why he is staring at me, I see Jonathan turn the corner behind Izzy and his eyes widen as they land on me. He licks his lips as his eyes look me up and down and then Izzy turns to see him standing there. When he looks at her, the lustful look in his eyes from when he was looking at me is still there and I see her stand up a little straighter. When I walk up to her, I can see that she is smirking at him with satisfaction because she thinks he was eyeing her and not me.

"Both of you girls look great." I hear Jace say as he appears at my side. His face is more neutral than it was when I first came out of the room and that is good for his safety...until he reaches out and pulls two large pins out of my hair and it cascades down over my shoulders. From the corner of my eye, I can see Jonathan tense as he watches our interaction. "Although I think your hair looks better down." Jace says and his voice shakes just a little. I guess him playing it cool just flew out of the window.

"Come on, Jonathan." Izzy says as she steps forward and places her hand on his arm. She turns him away from us and starts to lead him around the corner and back to the kitchen. Just as they are about to disappear out of site, Jonathan turns around and mouths "Jocelyn is coming" and I look down the hall. I strain my ears and I can hear that she is about to turn the corner at the other end of the hall.

"My mom is coming." I whisper to him.

"Does that mean that we have to act like a couple right now?" Jace asks me with a teasing yet naughty glint to his eyes.

I hold out my hand for him. "Yes, take my..." and then my words are cut off. He brings his lips to mine and pushes me up against the wall. I have to fight the urge to push him off of me knowing that Jonathan is close by. Jace pulls away fractionally and whispers, "Come on, Clary, you can do better than that. We are supposed to be madly in love." and then crashes his lips back to mine.

Where my hands have been at my side, clenched in fists, I relax them and bring them up and into his hair. I don't think clenched fists and tight lips are going to convince my mother that we are in love. He is only an inch taller than Jonathan and about the same build so I decide to pretend that it is him. I open my mouth and let his tongue slide in my mouth as I shove mine in his. My hands fist in his hair and I pull on it lightly earning a low and throaty moan from him. His hands that were on the wall beside my head are now on me.

He brings one to the back of my neck and pulls me closer into him while the other one has traveled down to my hip and has moved around to the small of my back and starts to inch closer and closer to my ass. He tightens his arm and pulls me flush to him as I imagine him being Jonathan who I am pressed up against. His mouth pulls away from mine and then immediately goes to my neck. He whispers, "Clary." in a way that I have never heard him speak before and a part of me likes it. I lean my head further back to give him access to my neck while my eyes are closed tightly. That is the only way I can do this. If I were to see Jace's face and not Jonathan's when I opened them, I don't think that I would be able to resist pushing him away. I already feel like a piece of cheating garbage.

Just as his lips get to the base of my neck where he nibbles a little at the soft skin there, I hear someone clear their throat. Jace pulls his hand back that had drifted all the way down to where it cupped my ass and my eyes snap open while I push him away as my eyes meet my mother's. "Mom." I say with surprise and embarrassment as I pull down the shirt/dress that has ridden up dangerously high. Her eyes as she looks at me hold a note of amusement and disapproval and at the same time, they hold fondness. I have no idea which emotion is currently dominating her mind and it is driving me nuts not to know her well enough to pick it out. Luke, who is standing next to her, is trying his best to hold back his amusement about the whole situation by bringing a hand up to cover his smile.

"Ms...um Jocelyn." Jace says as he runs a hand through his hair to fix it from where my hands were dug in. I look to him and he looks back to me and I can see that his eyes look like they have darkened a shade. For what reason, I can only guess. His cheeks turn a shade pinker as he tears his eyes from mine and he smiles sheepishly at my mom. "We were just...uh.." he stammers for a second and I just hang my head and close my eyes as I put my hand over my face as if I have just gotten caught making out with my boyfriend by my mother...which I sort of have.

"I think I saw exactly what you were doing." she says with a knowing tone and I pinch the bridge of my nose. "This is so embarrassing." I mutter under my breath and then look up at my mother with flame red cheeks from me blushing.

"We'll meet you two down there in a minute. Don't be _too_ long." Mom says pointedly as Luke and her start to walk again and pass us. When they turn the corner and are out of sight, I turn to where Jace is over my shoulder and glare daggers at him.

"Why did you kiss me?" I ask quietly through my tightened jaw.

Jace's face falls a little as his eyes look away from me. He takes a deep breath and lets it out as he says, "I don't know. It was something I would have done if we were actually together after seeing you in that dress." He gestures towards me as his eyes rake down and then back up my body longingly.

Seeing the way his eyes look at me that way reminds me that he actually likes me and that this must be hard for him. His eyes come up to mine again and I can see it again. The pain he is feeling knowing that I love someone else and that we aren't really together. Maybe him kissing me was a moment of weakness for him. The only problem is I don't know how many more 'moments of weakness' Jonathan will allow him to have without killing him.

When my eyes meet his again, I suddenly feel like the worst being on the planet for making him go along with this. Although he is trying to hide how much he is hurting, I can see it as plain as day on his face. "Jace...I..I.." I start to say but end up stuttering.

Jace drops his eyes from mine and looks down at the ground as he runs a hand through his hair. "Don't worry about it, Clary. Let's just go to dinner." he says sounding utterly defeated and then turns and starts to walk down the hall. I stand there for second before I hurry to his side. We walk in uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes until we get to the hall with the kitchen. When we turn the corner, I stop dead in my tracks, almost skidding to a halt.

My heart jumps in my throat and then plummets to the floor all in the same second. There, in a dark alcove just outside of the kitchen, I see Jonathan pressing Izzy up against the wall and he is passionately kissing her as his hands fly all over her body and hers dig into his hair.

* * *

 **Things are really going to pick up in the next chapter and start to come to an end. I can't wait to finish writing it.**


	18. Chapter 18

I'm frozen. I am completely frozen. No way did I see this coming. I hear Jace give a little chuckle and then he clears his throat as he starts to walk closer to them and towards the kitchen. "Don't mind us." he says as he gets near the door.

Jonathan pulls away from Izzy and her eyes go wild and stay fixated on Jonathan's face. She looks shocked and amazed and like she wants more of him. I know that feeling all too well. He can drive me insane with just a brush of his fingers in just the right spot.

I am still stuck in place, my feet feeling like cement blocks, as he looks over to me and smirks. "Sorry, man. I didn't mean for you to see me kissing your sister."

"I think you were doing a little bit more than kissing her." Jace replies with a knowing tone and a little breathy laugh as he reaches the door.

"Well, not yet." Jonathan says with a wag of his eyebrows as he looks back over to me. When he does, I am finally able to pull myself out of my shell shocked state and the anger takes over. I glare at him with pure rage as he steps away from her and Izzy starts to adjust her clothing from where Jonathan's hand pushed it out of place. How could he do that to me? I thought he said that no other woman would be able to do for him what I do for him. That he was going to never have the desire to touch another woman. Then I find him with his _fucking_ hands and mouth all over Izzy and I can't even find it in myself to be mad at her. She doesn't know about us and Jonathan is supposed to be young and free to do whatever he wants with whoever he wants.

"What's the matter, Clary?" Jonathan asks me as he steps away from Izzy without looking back at her. It is almost like he has forgotten she is there as his eyes hone in on me. "You look upset." he says with mock curiosity and concern in his voice.

"It's nothing." I say flippantly to him. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you found someone else to pass the time with while we are here. It's what you do best." I look over to Izzy then and say, "No offense, Izzy." She shrugs her shoulders and says, "None taken. It's not like I am looking to settle down."

"Oh, I don't know if you could say that that is what I do best." Jonathan replies with thoughtfulness. "I do a lot of things the best. Tell them, Clary. Tell them how good I am at everything."

" _Shut up_ Jonathan." I say as I walk through the door that Jace holds open for me. The smell of tomatoes and garlic hit my nose and I take a deep breath. It smells amazing in here. I look up and see that everyone is gathered around a large round table at the back of the kitchen. I also see a new person with black hair like Izzy and Alec and I suddenly know who that is. It's Max. Maybe talking to him will be a good way to distract myself from my murderous thoughts towards Jonathan right now.

Sitting next to Max is Simon and the two of them look like they are deep in some serious conversation. The door swings shut behind Izzy and Max turns around. His eyes find Jace who is coming up beside me and they light up with excitement. "Jace!" he shouts as he pushes away from the table. He runs up to Jace who embraces him in a tight hug as his eyes crinkle from the huge smile on his face. "What's up, little man?" Jace says and Max pulls back and glares at him. "I'm not little anymore. I am twelve years old and have my own Marks now." Max shoves his hand out to Jace and shows him his voyance rune on the back of his right hand and then lifts up his shirt and shows him an agility rune on his stomach.

"I keep forgetting." Jace says as he ruffles his hair and stands up straight. "Max." he says and he looks up to him. "This is Clary." Jace says and then looks over to me with a smile in his eyes. I extend my hand to Max and he takes it and shakes it as he smiles widely at me. "Is she your girlfriend?" Max asks with curiosity.

Jace doesn't miss a beat as he looks back over to Max and says, "She sure is." I see Maryse tense up from the corner of my eye as she puts a big bowl of pasta in the middle of the table. I am guessing this is the first she is hearing about this.

"I am so happy to finally meet you, Max." I tell him with a big smile. "I have heard so much about you that I feel like I already know you."

"Come on." Jace says and grabs my hand and pulls me to the table. He pulls out the chair that is next to Max for me and I sit down in it. Jace takes the seat on the other side of me while Izzy sits on the other side of Simon and Jonathan sits next to her. I look over to Jonathan who is watching me like a hawk. When I finally look at him, he leans into Izzy and whispers something in her ear. She giggles and looks at him and the good mood that I was in from meeting Max is now completely gone. If he wants to play that game, then I will play it to.

I flip my hair a little and lean into Jace and grab his arm and pull it over my head and down to where he rests it behind my lower back. Jace looks at me with a little surprise but then pulls me into his side a little. I peek back over to Jonathan to see that his jovial mood from two seconds ago when he saw my angry face is now gone and he looks like he is about to lose it. I smirk a little at him and he narrows his eyes at me.

This continues throughout dinner. Jonathan throws his arm over the back of Izzy's chair while I reach over and feed Jace a bite of my food. Jonathan then trails his fingers down the exposed skin on Izzy's upper arm as he leans into her and talks lowly to her while she smiles and giggles. I then reach up to Jace's face and wipe away a little bit of pasta sauce that was on the corner of his mouth with my thumb and then lick it off of it slowly. I then see Jonathan's hand disappear under the table and then Izzy's eyes go wide right before she jumps a little with a wild look in her eyes.

That is when I decide that I can't take it anymore and I push my chair away from the table. "I am really tired, babe." I say as I look at Jace. "I am going to go to bed early."

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asks looking slightly hopeful. I have been sending him mixed signals all night and I can only hope he just thought I was just pretending with everything and he didn't get his hopes up.

"No. I'll be fine. I am just going to go to bed." I lean down and give him a kiss on the cheek and then turn and leave. Everyone else is talking amongst each other and I just can't pretend to be one of those happy people anymore. I am angry and hurt and I want to kick and scream and cry all at the same time. I stomp the whole way back to my room and slam the door behind me as I step into the room. I kick off my shoes and throw them across the room. They hit the wall with a loud crash and a thud and then I pick up a pillow off of the bed and scream into it to let out my frustrations.

When I am out of breath and before I do it again, I hear a knock at my door. I gather my composure and then say with an even voice, "Who is it?"

"It's me." I hear Jonathan say.

"Go away!" I shout at him and then the door opens. Stupid me, I forgot to lock the door. My eyes turn into tiny slits as he shuts the door behind him. He pulls out his stele and draws a silence rune on the wall and door quickly and then turns to face me.

"You FUCKING BASTARD!" I yell at him. I pull out my stele and draw a silence rune on two of the other walls and then we are engulfed in silence. "How could you do that to me?" I shout even louder at him.

"Oh," Jonathan says as his eyes turn dark, "like _you_ are so innocent? I could hear you kissing Jace and him whispering your name into your skin. I'll bet his hands were all over you too. You smell just like him."

"I had no choice!" I yell at him as I walk closer to him. "He threw himself on me so Mom would catch us and it would convince her that we are in love. I didn't _want_ him to kiss me." I yell at him as I puff my chest out at him and come within inches of his angry face. "But I couldn't exactly push him away and argue about it with him in that moment either."

"You're smart, Clary." Jonathan shouts back at me in his booming voice. "You could have come up with _something_ else."

"And what about you, Jonathan?" I say questioningly as I push up against him, refusing to back down. "Did you really have to kiss Izzy? Are you pretending to be in a relationship with her for all of our sakes? Oh wait, you're not? Then why the _fuck_ were you kissing her and dragging your hands all over her?" My face is only inches away from his purely angry one as his eyes glaze over with the demon that lurks inside of him. "You are _mine_!" I scream at him through my angry clenched teeth. "You don't touch anyone else and no one touches you!"

"If that rule applies to me then shouldn't it apply to you?" Jonathan says lowly back to me. "You are mine, after all, and I don't want you touching anyone else and I don't want anyone touching you except me. How do you think it made me feel knowing that Jace had his hands and his mouth all over you?"

"It probably felt as bad as when I saw your hands and mouth all over Izzy!" I shout back at him. We are both seething with our anger and are breathing heavily as we stare into each other's eyes. My chest is pushed up against his from where I refused to back down from him like everyone else would and then something snaps. One second we are angrily staring at each other and the next, our mouths slam together as we both lunge for the other.

He grabs my hair roughly at the back of my neck and I grab his face and the back of his neck and pull him to me. Our tongues are furiously battling for dominance as we shove them into the other's mouth. The kiss is unbelievably rough and angry and full of the passion and frustration and anger that we are feeling towards each other. It is like we are literally trying to devour the other one as the kiss continues.

Jonathan's hands come down and he grabs my waist then picks me up and literally throws me across the room where I land on the bed. Before I can even register what just happened, he is sliding his hand under my dress and he grabs my thong and I hear tearing fabric as he rips it from my body. I let out a small and lust filled moan when he does this and I sit up and undo his belt faster than I thought I ever could and then rip his pants open. His button pops off and I hear it hit the floor beside the bed as the zipper to his pants rips down and I dive my hand into his boxers.

The moment my fingers touch his rock hard erection, he grunts lowly and pushes me down and onto the bed. He slides his pants down to below his butt, not bothering to take them all the way off, and then spreads my legs. He shoves himself inside of me roughly and I shout out in pleasurable pain. He starts to angrily thrust into me with superhuman speed and force and I throw my head back and onto the bed. His hand comes up and wraps around my neck and he pulls me to him with it to meet his thrusts. It doesn't hurt at all and I find it to be really erotic. His other hand goes to my dress and gropes my breast over the material.

My hands fly down to the bottom of the dress and within a second, I pull it off and expose my bare chest to him. He growls low in his throat as he continues his assault in between my legs. I start to meet his thrusts with ones of my own as his fingers find my nipple and he pinches it. I shout out in pain as he dips his head and licks my pained nipple, taking away the sting. "You're fucking _mine._ " he says in his most feral and low voice. All I can manage to say through the bliss he is giving me as my legs start to shake is "I'm yours." and then he is shaking apart inside of me. There was no warning from him this time. It wasn't about my pleasure, but about him laying his claim on me and me laying my claim on him.

When he is done, he pulls out and then his fingers dive inside of me. I moan out in pleasurable surprise as he starts to tease my spot and then his mouth comes down on me. "Fuck!" I shout out as his tongue moves expertly over my clit. I throw my hands into his hair and pull on it as I amazingly already start to climb my peak. "Oh my go..." I say through my shaky breath. Whatever he is doing down there he has never done before to me. I can no longer see straight so I close my eyes and just immerse myself into the other worldly pleasure his is giving me.

My body starts to shake with anticipation as I feel myself getting closer and closer to my peak. "Fuuuuck, big brother." I moan out sexily and he picks up to an unbelievable pace that has me screaming at the top of my lungs as I orgasm in his mouth. It is one of the biggest orgasms that I have ever had and it seems to go on forever. When I am finally done, I am panting as I try to open my eyes and all I see are stars.

I feel Jonathan sit up and then his hands are on my hips and they flip me over. My face is then pressed into the mattress as he pushes down on my shoulders and lays his body on me. I feel his hard long dick in between my legs again and then I feel him shove into me from behind and start to pound into me again. He is dominating me now and I don't know why, but I find it to be a _really_ big fucking turn on.

His body lays on top of mine from behind as my face is pushed even more into the bed. He is slamming into me with all of the ferocity and anger he feels and it feels incredible. I am no longer able to form any words as my mouth is only able to hang open and moan out in ecstasy. "You're mine, baby sister." He growls in my ear as he leans forward and continues to thrust into me. "What do you have to say about that?" he asks me.

"Fuck me harder." I say to him and I can hear the smile on his face as he says, "Anything for you, dear sister." and then is pounding into me even harder. It is a little painful at first and then it starts to blind me with how amazing it feels. My walls start to pulse and squeeze him inside of me. He grabs my hair and wraps it around his hand and pulls it back. My faces raises up as his other hand still holds me down and then he leans down and kisses me angrily as I start to cum. I open my mouth and scream "Oh my Jona...than!" I cry out my blinding pleasure as my body pulses with my unbelievable release.

I feel him finally start to twitch inside of me and then his grunts become less controlled as his own pleasure overwhelms him and he shudders for a moment and then falls on top of my back. We both lay there breathing heavily as we come down from our emotional and physical high. Another minute passes before he rolls off of me. I turn my body and pull myself up to him and climb on top of his chest and lay there on him.

I put my ear to his chest and listen to his steady and strong heart beats for a while as my hands come up and I aimlessly draw patterns on his chest with my fingers. After a minute, I prop my chin up on his chest and he looks down at me. "Do you feel better now?" I ask him as I raise my brows.

"As a matter of fact, I do." he says and then looks up to the ceiling. "Did you kiss Izzy because you were mad at me? Or was it jealousy and you wanted revenge?"

"I think maybe it was all of those things." he says flatly. "Me not being able to be with you and kiss you whenever I want is slowly wearing me down. And now I have to watch you hang all over Jace and kiss him and touch him and not me when you are mine and not his."

"I don't kiss him." I tell Jonathan. "He kissed me. I am not sure I know why he did it, but it worked. Mom now believes us even more now that we are really a couple."

"I don't give a shit what she thinks." he says through tight lips. "All I know is that I don't want his lips anywhere near you. I see the way he looks at you when you aren't looking. I would knock his teeth out if I didn't tolerate it enough to know that I have someone else who would die to protect you. He will do anything for you because he is in love with you."

"I wouldn't go that far." I say with wide eyes. "I don't think he loves me. Likes me? Yes. But loves me? I don't think so."

"Whatever you say, Clary." Jonathan says with a sarcastic tone. "Like I said, I allow his presence simply for the fact that when I am not around, you have someone else who would kill for you and have your back no matter what. I am not above using his feelings for you in that way."

"But you two seem to be getting along better." I say in a questioning tone.

"I guess I like the guy enough." he says with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "We seem to get along and I like his cockiness and sarcasm. It entertains me."

"That's good." I say to him trying not to sound excited. "The more time I spend with him the more I think that you two really could be friends. He fits in well with us. I guess that is because Father raised him for a while."

"Maybe." he says as his hand comes down and grabs a lock of my hair and begins to twine it around his fingers. "Do you think Jocelyn would do anything for me?" Jonathan suddenly asks. I snap to attention and look more closely to his face. That question certainly came out of left field.

He looks down at me and makes eye contact with me and I can see that he is genuinely curious and expects me to give him an answer. "I think so." I tell him honestly. "The more I told her about you and how amazing you are, the more upset she seemed to become with herself. I actually put the truth rune on her and do you know what she said?" I ask him. He shakes his head 'no' and I smile just a little. "She said that abandoning you and not giving you a chance is her biggest regret in her life."

Jonathan's brows furrow in thought as he looks back up to the ceiling. "I think she does love you and would do anything for you. She said that she was willing to do anything to have a relationship with you. I told her it might take years and she didn't flinch and shy away. She said that she didn't care and would wait as long as you needed to be okay with her. She doesn't expect you to forgive her because I already told her that that wasn't going to happen, and rightfully so, and she accepted that fact."

He is quiet after that and I can see in his eyes that he is thinking about what I have said. I don't want to push him so I just leave it there and leave him to his thoughts. I turn my head back to the side and lay it on his chest as he reaches down and pulls the covers over us. I let one of my hands fall to his side and run my fingers over his soft skin there and close my eyes. I fall asleep peacefully there while he twirls a lock of my hair in his fingers.

* * *

I am bolted awake by a loud ringing. I lift my head up and see Jonathan's eyes open and a knowing look crosses his face. I roll off of him and he sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands up. I watch his naked body as he goes over to where he kicked his pants off at the foot of the bed and he picks them up and reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out a phone. He doesn't even look at who is calling and slides his finger over to answer the phone. "Hello." he says in a slightly tired voice.

"Who is that?" I whisper to him and he pulls the phone away from his ear and puts it on speaker. "...the cup. And now, I can't find your sister." I instantly know who the voice belongs to. It's Father. "Do you know where she is?" Father says in a tense voice.

"I do, actually." he says to him. "She got to a phone and called me because she couldn't get in contact with you. She said that Jocelyn got the cup out of hiding and she has seen it. They had to flee because a werewolf that is in Lucian's pack told him that there was word of you in the city. They are at the New York Institute right now."

I can hear him breathe a sigh of relief when Jonathan finishes talking. "When is she going to bring the cup to me?" Father asks him.

"I don't know." he replies. "It would help if she knew where you were but she said you didn't tell her where the apartment is. Only that you said it was near Jocelyn's place. I told her to go along with it until she could coordinate with you to meet up. I don't want to put her in any unnecessary danger by her exposing herself to them too soon."

"No. I wouldn't want that either. She is too important to the cause." Father says almost dismissively and like he is thinking about something else. "Is there a way for her to get in touch with you?"

"I gave her this number and she said she will call when she gets a chance. I don't know how long that will be though."

"Okay. When she calls you, tell her to meet me at Jocelyn's tomorrow night at ten. If she doesn't call before then, you call me and tell me so I can find a way around to get the cup from her." Father says this while I hear what sounds like a couple of people in the background talking. "I wonder why Hodge hasn't contacted me and told me that she was there."

"I think she said something to him to scare him so he wouldn't give away her and Jace's loyalty." Jonathan replies. He hasn't looked at me this whole time and I have scooted to the edge of the bed and have let the sheets fall from my body.

"I hope she knows what she is doing." Father says with an unsure tone to his voice.

"Everything will be fine, Father." Jonathan says reassuring him. "She knows what she is doing. She also has Jace who is the best strategist we know. I am sure they have it under control."

"You are probably right. I just don't like waiting. Especially since the botched meeting this morning." Father says something then away from the phone and I hear someone reply and then he is back. "Things are almost ready on my side here and so I expect to have what I need soon. I don't want to have to send you in there to retrieve it."

"Well since I am still in Idris, that would be hard to do." Jonathan says with a bit of a snide tone in his voice.

"Go ahead and take a portal to New York then. That way if I need you, you will be here. Just lay low until you get word from me."

"Yes, Father. I will be there soon." he replies and then he hangs up. I stand up out of bed and walk over to him. "We never formed a plan." I say to him. "The whole Sebastian thing got in the way."

"I realize that now but that doesn't mean that I haven't already come up with a plausible plan." Jonathan says as he pulls my front to his and wraps his arms around my waist as mine come up and drape over his shoulders. "I think you should go get Jace." he says after he kisses me softly.

"Why?" I ask him.

"So we can come up with a plan." he replies. "Jace really _is_ a great strategist and I think he could have some input to what I have already come up with."

I take a deep breath and place a kiss on Jonathan's chest and then look back up at him. "Okay. I'll put some clothes on and I suggest you do the same." He starts to bend down to give me a kiss and I crane my neck up to meet my lips with his. His lips touch mine and then I open my mouth for him and then our tongues are crashing against one another. Before either one of us knows it, I raise myself up and wrap my legs around his waist. I just can't seem to get enough of him.

"A quickie couldn't hurt anything." I say when he pulls back to take a breath. He smiles wickedly at me when I say that and the walks me over to the desk in the room and sets me on top of it. He growls as he spreads my legs practically into a split and then lines up with my entrance. He holds himself there for a minute while he kisses me and his fingers skim over my nipples. His mouth drops down and he kisses my neck with his wet hot lips as I let my head fall back.

My hands go down to his huge erection that is lined up perfectly with me and I wrap my hand around it, making him growl. "Please, big brother." I whisper to him. "Please put it in me." and I pull him closer to me with his dick.

"Say it again." he growls into my neck. "Say you want me."

"I want you and only you, dear brother. _Please_ , fuck me. I can't take it anymore. I need you inside of me." I drop my voice low and husky and pump my hand on him a couple of times and I hear a rumble down in his chest as I finish saying what he wanted me to.

" _Fuck._ I want you so bad." he whispers and then he shoves into me. The desk shakes a little and a few things fall over with the force of his initial thrust into me. I lean back and rest on my hands behind me as Jonathan stands up straight. I close my eyes and let my head fall back as he starts to pick up speed and sets his pace.

His hands come down where he grabs my thighs and bends my knees and places my feet on the desk on either side of me. This gives him access to me like never before and I can feel him reach farther inside of me than I ever have. I can't help but cry out in pleasure at this. I love how experienced he is and that he knows what will feel good for me. Even though it hurt to see him with those other girls, I am glad that he got them out of the way and learned everything he did so he could please me the way he does. I honestly don't think anyone could ever compare to what he does to my body.

Within a minute, I am screaming at the top of my lungs as a blinding orgasm rocks my body. I hear Jonathan chuckle a little and I open my eyes and look at him. "I always knew your body was made for me." he says with wicked tone. "You cum so easily with me."

"Yes it was." I say back to him and he closes his eyes as he continues to push into me. "You are just so _tight_ around me, little sister. You squeeze me better than anyone."

"Good." I say and push into him and meet one of his thrusts. He groans in pleasure and then he pulls out of me. He goes over to the overstuffed and over sized chair in the room and sits down. "Show me what you've got." he says in challenge and a twisted smirk graces my lips. I hop down and walk over to him while holding his gaze with mine.

When I get to him, I place my feet on either side of him in the chair and lower myself down and very slowly slide onto him. I pull up and slowly fall back down again and he closes his eyes in contentment. I pull up again but this time, I slam back down on him. His eyes fly wide and he looks down at me surprised and I reach behind him and grab the back of the chair. My breasts come to right in front of his face and his tongue darts out and he starts to lick my nipples while he cups them in his hand.

I bring myself up and then slam back down on him again as he sucks on one of my nipples and he moans out his pleasure. I start to roll my hips and push into him roughly at the same time and soon, he can't concentrate enough to play with my breasts anymore. His hands go to my ass and he grabs it and pushes me down onto him when I push him back into me over and over again. I can see that I am driving him close to his edge so I lean my head down and whisper in his ear. "Oh, fuuuck, Jonathan." I drop my voice low and sexily growl this next part into his ear as his breathing picks up. "My brother. My _lover_."

His fingers clench my ass tighter and then he is screaming his release into me as I pound on him relentlessly. I don't let up on him until I am sure I have pulled everything out of him that he was able to give me. He is breathing heavily as I lower myself down one last time and sit there with him inside of me. He leans his head forward onto my chest and rests it there as he slows his breathing.

"You turn me on so much." he says after a quiet minute. "I could never go back to where I couldn't be inside of you ever again. I would go crazy."

I let out a huff of amused air and pull his face up to mine by cupping it in between my hands. "You will never have to." I whisper to him and claim his lips with mine.

* * *

The next morning...

We were up till the crack of dawn planning and I am absolutely exhausted. I am sitting in between Jonathan and Jace as we smooth out the last of the details as we all eat our own bowl of oatmeal with blueberries mixed in. I think that our plan is pretty much flawless and I am sure we can pull it off as long as everyone does their part. We are going to have to tell some people what we are doing and then give others a different story so their reactions to our actions are genuine. This is too important for any part of it to rest in the hands of someone's acting skills.

"We still haven't decided whether or not we are going to give the cup to him tonight or not." Jace says as he looks over to me and Jonathan. "I don't want to and neither does Clary."

"Yes, but I think he will get suspicious if we don't show up with it." Jonathan says in defense. "Everything depends on him thinking we are on his side."

"I understand that." I say as I set my spoon down inside of my bowl. "But if we give it to him, we don't know what he will do or if he will go back to his old plan to steal the Mortal Sword."

Jonathan looks away and down into his bowl as he aimlessly swirls his oatmeal around. I can see him thinking hard about this. If we decide to keep it here, we are going to have to come up with one hell of a story to tell Father so he doesn't get suspicious. Jace thought of something but Jonathan wasn't convinced that it would work. I have been playing with a few ideas myself hoping that I will come up with one that Jonathan will like enough to go along with me and Jace. I just can't fathom giving it to him after all of this and jeopardizing our own plan.

I am pulled out of my head when the kitchen door swings open and a laughing Izzy falls through the door. Simon steps into view after her with the biggest smile on his face as his eyes bore holes into her. "That did _not_ happen." Izzy said with a smile to Simon.

"It did too." Simon replies with a mock serious tone and a hilariously fake serious face. Izzy bursts into laughter again and I chuckle a little at the face he is making at her. They both hear my laughter and their heads snap up and find us as if they are just noticing we are there.

"Hey guys." Izzy says as she walks over to the cabinets and pulls out two bowls and hands one to Simon. "Is this mom's oatmeal?" she asks as she looks over to Jace.

"Yeah. She got up early and made a whole pot of it. There is some fruit in the fridge if you want to add some in." Jace replies and then turns back around to the table.

"Hi Jonathan." Izzy says as her voice dips a little lower and she bats her lashes at him.

"Morning Eliza." Jonathan replies a little flippantly and I have to bring up my hand and cover my mouth to hide my amused smile. I know what he is doing. The old 'I am pretending to not remember your name and that makes you mad and then you don't want anything to do with me anymore' game.

"It's Izzy." she clips back at him as her voice tightens.

"Oh. That's right." he says and gives her a sheepish smile as he turns back around and faces the table as I do. I can hear Simon start to engage her in conversation as he sees his window of opportunity open right in front of him to reclaim her attention. He says something and she bursts into laughter again (maybe a little too much laughter to what he said) and I peek over my shoulder and see that she has extended her hand and is resting it on his arm as she laughs. The thing is, I have no idea if she thinks what he is saying is funny or if she is just trying to make Jonathan jealous. I suddenly start to worry about Simon's obviously inexperienced heart from the way he is looking at her. He is already falling for her.

Jace's spoon suddenly clanks against the bowl and then he is standing up. "I am going to go check on Hodge." Jace says as I look to him in question. "He's been in that Malachai configuration all night. I am sure he needs to go to the bathroom or something like that. I was thinking about taking him to the cellar here and locking him down there so he will at least have a toilet and not piss all over Mom's rugs."

"I'll go with you." Jonathan says as he stands up too. Jace leans down absentmindedly and kisses me on the forehead before turning away. From the slightly surprised look on his own face, I don't think that he made a conscious decision to do that. The lines of our relationship must be blurring more than I thought for him. "Find me after breakfast." Jace says as he walks away and makes Hodge a bowl.

Izzy and Simon then join me at the table and I look over at them. "Okay guys. Jonathan heard from Valentine tonight and Jonathan and Jace and I came up with a plan to take him down." I tell them as I finish off my oatmeal. "Listen up, because it is going to get complicated." Izzy's face and Simon's turn serious as they level their eyes at me.

Nine thirty p.m. rolls around and I am starting to feel nervous. It took a while for us to explain to everyone their part all in small groups from the varying stories we told them. One group got one story while the other group got another one. Now, I am walking out of the Institute to meet Jonathan at a coffee shop around the corner. He left an hour ago in case Father sent someone to watch the Institute for me. We can't have him finding out that Jonathan has been with me this whole time.

It takes me about ten minutes to get there and I am greeted with a smile and a cup of coffee from Jonathan. "Thanks babe." I say as he hands it to me. Just as I take my first sip, I see a tall and beautiful blonde walk up and tap Jonathan on his shoulder. He turns around and looks at her and she sticks her chest out at him, making the buttons on her shirt strain to stay together. "Hi, I'm Taylor. I saw you over here looking a little lonely and I thought that maybe we could get some dinner some time." Her lips pout out sexily and her hand comes up with a piece of paper in it as she reaches out to his hand and touches it lightly.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Jonathan says flippantly. He then nods over to me as he says, "I would rather fuck my sister then have to listen to you for more than a minute."

Her face falls and her mouth pops open in shock that quickly turns to anger. From the look on her face, I don't think she gets rejected a whole lot. Her hand comes up and whether she was going to throw the piece of paper in his face or slap him, I will never know. Jonathan's hands move blindingly fast and he catches her wrist and holds it tight as he says angrily, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She immediately shrinks back away from him as fear fills her pretty brown eyes. Jonathan lets go of her after a few seconds and she stumbles backwards and bumps into a table. Jonathan lets go of her gaze and then looks back over to me as I casually sip my coffee. "That was entertaining." I tell him.

"Come on, sweet tits." Jonathan says as he swings an arm over my shoulders.

"Sweet tits?" I say questioningly at him as my voice rises a few octaves.

"What? You don't like it?" he asks with a smile on his lips, already knowing my answer.

"Not for everyday use." I say and he drops his hand a squeezes my ass as we reach the door. He leans around me and pushes the door open while still standing inside and I start to walk through. As I am passing him, he pulls me into him for a lingering kiss that has me weak in the knees by the time he finally releases me. Jonathan smiles wickedly at me and then his eyes dart back over to the blonde girl. I look along with him and her face is a mask of horror as she just saw him kiss his sister by his own admission.

I laugh a little at her dumb face as my hand grazes over his dick in his pants as I finish passing him and then we are walking hand in hand as we search for a taxi.

Exactly eighteen minutes later, we arrive at my mom's apartment and hop out of the cab. Jonathan throws some money over the front seat and gives him a large tip after we made out for most of the ride. I look up and see that there is a light on in one of the windows of the apartment and I swallow roughly as I feel Jonathan take my hand. I look up to him and he nods his head toward the front door and I start my way to it. I put on my face and get ready to play my part as I climb the steps with Jonathan behind me.

When I reach the door to the apartment I don't hesitate to swing the door open. I step in and see father there with mine and Jace's bags from the hotel next to him. I smile warmly at him and walk over to him and kiss him on the cheek. "How are you today, Father?" I ask him. "I hope you're not mad that I ran with Mom. I didn't want to blow my cover."

"Not at all Clary." he says a little too soothingly to be real coming from him. "Do you have it?" he asks then and I can hear the impatience in his voice.

I look up to him and then my eyes dart back over to Jonathan and then back to Father. "I didn't bring it with me." I tell him.

I watch as his eyes widen and somehow turn into slits at the same time. "What are you talking about?" he says on the verge of being angry.

"Mom still has it in her room at the Institute." I say to him and hold my hands up for him to let me finish before he starts to shout at me. "Jace is watching her to make sure she doesn't run with it. Although..." I say and pause for dramatic effect, "I think that she would give it up to you if you came to her in the right way."

He furrows his brows in confusion as he looks at me. "Why would you think that?" he asks with an indignant tone.

"Because I put my truth rune on her." I tell him conspiratorially and smile at him knowingly. "She still loves you, Father. I asked her while she had it on her and she said that she has always loved you and a big part of her still does."

His face goes from the hard one that he was displaying to a thoughtful one as he registers this new information. "She was really mad at me afterwards for asking her that but I think in a way it felt good for her to say it out loud after all of these years. This works well because I changed the story a little bit that I told her when Jace and I first got here." His eyes then focus back in on me then with an angry glint in them. "Don't worry Dad." I tell him soothingly. "I have seen the look you get on your face when you talk about her. I just couldn't lie and tell her that you were this evil creature that I was trying to escape. Instead, I told her that Jonathan had gone crazy and was constantly trying to rape me because of his blood. I told her that you had lost control over him and were trying to find a way to stop him and had sent me away to keep me safe."

"And what did she say?" he asks with a hint of disbelief lining his voice.

"Well..." I say with an evil glint to my eye that I picked up from years with Jonathan, "with my super powerful persuasion rune on her at the time, she bought every word of it."

"But how did you get her to let you put the Marks on her?" he asks.

"She passed out from shock when she first saw me. Jace then distracted Luke by acting overprotective of me. I saw my opportunity then and drew them on her back because she fell and luckily rolled on her side exposing it to me. She never knew they were there because no one can see what is on their back. You are always telling me to think on my toes. I hope you are not too mad at me." I say sheepishly as I give him my biggest doe eyes.

He looks down at me with a contemplative look on his face. He doesn't look convinced yet so I keep going. "I mean, she's really mad at you for taking me and keeping me from her, but I think that she stayed here where you could find her in case you ever decided to come back. I think that the both of you can work past everything that has happened. All I want is for you to be happy. For _all_ of us to be happy. I know that no matter what you say, you still love her. I think that you are both even with each other now. She betrayed you to stop your uprising and you took me away from her for thirteen years. Everyone is even now. I know it might not be easy to work everything out, but I think it can be done and that is all I want. You deserve to be happy, Daddy, after all of the work you have put into everything over the years." I stop talking then as worry starts to swarm in the pit of my stomach. His face is still impassive and I can see how torn he is by what I am saying.

He absolutely hates when anyone disobeys him and I have just confessed my ultimate crime against him. I went against everything he told me to say and came up with my own plan. "She said that she still loves me? After everything that has happened between us and after all of these years?" he asks me, speaking for the first time.

"She did." I say with a soft smile. "She is hurt and upset with you but she is still in love with you. I think if the two of you sat down in a room alone, you could work everything out. Move past all of the hurt and anger between the two of you over the years."

Before I can say anything else, Father raises his right hand up and moves with unbelievable speed and back hands me across my right cheek. My head is flung to the left and the sound of the smack echos off of the walls of the room. I see from the corner of my eye Jonathan stand up straight and his body become unbearably tense from where he was lounging against the wall, acting disinterested. He doesn't make a move to defend me or hit Father like I know he wants to because he still has to believe that we are under his control.

I bring my hand up to cup my cheek and let my eyes fall to the floor in shame. "I'm sorry, Daddy." I say weakly. "I just thought that there was a better way. A way that we could all be together." I force a tear out of my eyes and let it roll down my cheek before I catch it and wipe it away.

Father's hand comes into a view a few seconds later and his fingers grab my chin softly and he pulls my face up. I look up at him through my lashes, trying to look ashamed, as his eyes regard me with anger and exasperation at the same time. "Clarissa..." he says tiredly. "You directly disobeyed me. There had to be some sort of punishment for it." He reaches up and pulls my hand away from my face where I am holding the now reddening mark. "You are lucky that is all I am giving you." and he looks pointedly at my cheek.

I nod my head weakly and let another tear escape my eyes. He takes a deep breath as he watches the tear roll down my face. "Sometimes I forget that the angel blood in your veins makes you softer at heart than most. You always want everyone you love to be happy. And because you love me, you did something that you thought would make me happy."

"That's all I want." I say with a sniffle as I look up at him.

"I know." he says with another sigh. "I can't say that I am that upset about what you did tell her though. I am glad that you got her to admit her feelings for me again. I always knew, deep down, that she still loved me. I think that the only reason she betrayed me was because she was depressed because of Jonathan. She was angry and depressed and acted out against me." He steps away from me then and drops his hand from my face and moves his hands behind his back and clasps them together. "And then there is the fact that you didn't bring me the cup." His voice has dropped and I can practically feel the anger coming off of him in waves as he talks. "That is what I am most upset about."

"But Jace and I have come up with a flawless plan." I say with a little hopefulness in my voice. He doesn't turn around to face me from where he walked over to the window and is looking out to the sidewalk when I say that. "Please, just hear me out. I think that you will like it." I tell him and then he turns around to face me with a disbelieving look in his dark eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

A week later...

I wake up in the New York Institute to my mother coming in my room and singing me happy birthday because today, I turn nineteen. Jace and Jonathan are close behind her (not singing) but are both smiling at me as my mother sits on the bed and pulls me into a hug. "Happy birthday baby." she says as she squeezes me tightly to her. "I am so happy that I get to hold you again on the anniversary of your birth."

I pull back and smile at her as I tuck my wild hair behind my ear. "Thanks mom, and me too. I am glad you are here to celebrate with me."

"I wish we could do more but everything is going down tonight." she says with a regretful and worried tone.

"That's okay, Mom. I'm not a little girl anymore that needs to be thrown a birthday party anymore."

"But I just wish we were doing something else today." she says wistfully as she reaches out and takes my hand. "Why did you have to plan everything for today?"

Jonathan speaks up then. "Because this is the earliest day that he could coordinate for the Nephilim to get to Allicante. These things take time and don't you want it to be over with sooner rather than later?" Jonathan has been speaking directly to Mom for three days now but only says a few things that aren't really of any importance. I think he is trying the best that he can to be at least civil with her for my sake.

Mom turns and looks up at him with a gentle smile. "I do want it to be done already." Her voice is a little tired and worn. "I have been hiding for almost twenty years and I am pretty tired of it."

"Then it had to be today." Jonathan replies flatly as he walks closer and kisses me on the forehead before turning around. "Let her wake up." he says as he nears the door. "She can get pretty crabby if she doesn't have her space in the morning to wake up."

I narrow my eyes at him and childishly stick my tongue out at him. Without turning around he says, "Put your tongue back in your mouth." and I pull my tongue back in. He turns and looks over his shoulder when he gets to the door and laughs when he sees my stubborn expression because he knew what I was going to do without looking. He knows me too well.

He leaves the room as Mom stands up with a smile on her face as she looks after where Jonathan just was. "I can honestly see that he does love you, Clary." she says with a soft voice. "I am glad that he had you even if I had to go without you." She leans down and kisses my cheek and tells me happy birthday one more time and then turns to leave. I look over to Jace when she disappears out of the room and see him walking towards the door. When he gets to it, he doesn't walk through it and instead, he closes it with him still in the room with me.

"I wanted to talk to you." he says sounding uncharacteristically nervous as he looks back over to me. I shift a little in my place on the bed and look to him questioningly. He turns and walks over to me and sits on the edge of my bed a couple of feet away from me and looks at the floor for a second. His hands are in front of him in his lap and I see that they are shaking ever so slightly with his nerves. He looks like he is either going to be sick or like he is about to jump out of an airplane with no parachute.

"What did you want to talk about?" I ask as I sit up a little straighter and start to feel a little nervous myself.

"I know that you have a boyfriend, you couldn't lie when you told me that." he says as he finally looks over to me. "What I don't understand is why I don't I ever hear about him? Where is he in all of this? Why isn't he here, by your side, helping you and protecting you? How can he love you and leave you to deal with all of this by yourself?"

I swallow harshly and my nerves shoot up as a knot forms in the pit of my stomach. He's right. I have only ever mentioned I have a boyfriend but not who he is or what his name is or where he is. I have left a lot of questions unanswered and I am sure he is starting to grow skeptical of my story of him. "It's complicated, Jace." I finally say as I answer him.

"But it's not." he says with emphasis. "It's not complicated. _I_ am here with you, helping you. Your brother is here and people you barely know are here helping you. But where is he? I haven't even heard you speak his name, for crying out loud."

"That's because it really _is_ complicated, Jace." I say sounding tired and slightly defensive. "He is helping in his own way."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Jace asks me brusquely as he turns his body to face me and bends one leg and puts it slightly up against the bed.

"Why does that matter?" I ask as I furrow my brows at him. "Because it does." he replies flatly. "I haven't even met him and I already know that he isn't good enough for you." His voice is tight and unwavering now as his eyes lock with mine. " _I_ am here with you. _I_ would _never_ leave your side to let you take all of this on by yourself. You say you love him, but does he love you the same?"

My eyes have grown apologetic and hurt and defeated as I look at his face. "Jace, I do know that he loves me. There is so much more to this story than you know."

"Then tell me." he says tightly. He sits there as I try to form words with my lips and explain myself. When nothing comes out of my mouth, his lips turn up on one side slightly. "There is no excuse for him." he says tiredly.

"What are you getting at?" I finally say with a little annoyance in my voice.

When I ask him that, I see the walls that he puts up around him fall completely down as I look in his eyes. They grow unbearably soft when they look at me, making my heart fall to the pit of my stomach. "I want you to give us a chance, Clary." he says after an agonizingly long few seconds. "I want you to let yourself go to feel what I know you are stopping yourself from feeling. Whether it be out of loyalty to him or just your unbelievable stubbornness," he chuckles breathy chuckle and then continues, "you refuse to let your guard down with me. You, Clary, have already torn down my walls without even trying and I find myself feeling things for you that I didn't think I was capable of. I have tried to stop it but the more I am around you, the worse it gets for me. I...I..."

He is struggling now to find words as he looks at me. My heart is in my throat and my stomach is in knots as he looks at me with such love and devotion for the first time. I am not sure if he has looked at me like that before or not, although Jonathan says that he has. I think back for a second to everything and start to see the signs that I was purposefully ignoring. The longing looks and lingering contact with my skin when it wasn't necessary at the time. The way his eyes follow me wherever I go in the room. The way his face lights up when he sees me.

And there it is again. I start to see a whole other future for myself and it is with him. I think that he is right. I have closed myself off to him and refused to feel anything for him out of my stubbornness. Unfortunately for him, I am more stubborn than he knows. I shut down that line of thought completely and place Jonathan's face at the front of my mind. I take a deep breath as I look at Jace's hopeful face and start to feel like the worst person in the world. He is offering me his heart on a silver platter and I am about to stomp all over it.

"Jace," I say with my voice incredibly soft, "you don't want me." I tell him. He starts to open his mouth to protest and I raise my hand for him to stop. He closes his mouth and I continue. "Trust me when I say that. If you really knew everything, you wouldn't want me. I am not who you think I am."

"I have spent enough time with you to know enough about you, Clary." Jace replies with conviction back to me. "You are the best person I know. You are smart and funny and are an incredible warrior. You are fighting to make the world better. I know that when I see you, no matter what mood I am in, I suddenly feel like I am the happiest..."

"Jace, stop." I say before he can go any further. "Please understand me when I say this." I say looking at him as he starts to realize what is about to happen. Whether the look on my face gives it away or its the tone of my voice, I don't know. "You don't want me. I am really messed up on the inside." I let out a tiny humorless laugh and look down at my hands. "What I have with my boyfriend works because he is just as messed up as me which I am sure you will understand sooner rather than later when all of this is over. Once everyone finds out, I am sure that they would all agree with me. I am fucked up and I don't want you to be sucked into my mess. You are too wonderful for that. You deserve better." I look back up at him and can practically see his heart crumbling. "I refuse to bring you down into it with me. You should just forget about me and move on, Jace. I'm no good for you."

He takes a deep breath and then slowly stands up. Just as he starts to take a step towards the door, he stops and turns to his side and looks at me. "You, Clary, are the only good thing to happen to me since the Lightwoods took me in. I wish you could understand that but until you do, I'll be here...waiting." His eyes then leave mine and then he is walking out of my door and shuts it behind him.

I lower my head and bring my hands up to cover my face. This is shitty. And the crazy part is, I think he is right. We would be great together. We get along phenomenally well and we laugh together and...it's all for nothing because I love Jonathan. He beat Jace to the punch by only a few days and claimed me. If I hadn't broken down and given into my twisted feelings and desires for my brother and fallen in love with him, I am pretty sure that Jace and I would be a real thing by now. He makes me feel beautiful and special and everything you would want someone to make you feel.

The only problem is that Jonathan makes me feel that way too, only on such a more intense level. He completely engulfs me into him. The all-consuming way he looks at me when we are together and how he worships me in everything I do. He would literally kill everyone in the world if he thought it would make me happy. I know that is a sick thing to think of but with Jonathan, that is how he works. I am more to him than just the woman he loves. I am his everything. His lover, his sister, his queen, his goddess, his sun and moon, the only thing that has ever shown him unconditional love and taught him to love in return, even if it is in his own way. I feel powerful and unstoppable when he is at my side in every way possible. Nothing is impossible with him.

I pull my face out of my hands and look up at the door one more time as I swing my legs off the side of the bed. I have to take a shower and get dressed for the day. We are eating and then heading to Idris. The warlock that my mom got to erase my memories is coming to open us up a portal (because the Lightwoods don't need to know about my powers) and then we are going to the big meeting at the Accords Hall. That is when everything will take place. That is why Jonathan had Father tell Consul Dieudonne to call a grand meeting of all available shadowhunters for tonight. Where all of the members of the Circle will be waiting.

I run a hand roughly down my face as I think about exactly how much rides on this tonight. I know that we can pull it off, but still. I would be an idiot if I wasn't at least a little bit nervous.

I showered and dressed in my gear and pulled my hair up into a bun and put a little bit of makeup on to give myself a bad-ass look before I am ready to leave my room. When I open my door, I see Jonathan waiting for me as he lounges on the wall opposite of me. "It's about time." He says mockingly as he pushes off of the wall. His eyes then drag down and then back up my body as he comes closer. "Although, I have to say that you were definitely worth the wait."

He reaches out and grabs my around my waist and pulls me to him and brings his lips down on mine. I allow him to kiss me for a few seconds before I pull away and step out of his grasp. "Babe," I say chastisingly. "We could get caught."

His eyes shine as he looks down at me with a wicked smile. "After tonight, that won't be such a big deal."

"Yes, but until then, hands off." I say as I flip my hair at him as I turn and start to walk towards the kitchen with just enough swing in my hips to torture him. I hear him groan and I smile as I turn the corner to head towards the kitchen.

After breakfast, Jace and Jonathan and I go up to each individual and make sure that they know just what to do and sooth any concerns that they have. I make sure and be the one that talks to Izzy after what happened between Jonathan and her. She seemed to be mad at him for the first couple of days because he so quickly lost interest in her but quickly found solace in Simon. I am not 100 percent sure what is going on between them but whatever it is, they always seem to be in a giddy mood after hanging around with each other.

After I talk with her, I find my mom and make sure that she is emotionally ready for what is going to happen tonight. She plays one of the biggest roles and a lot is hanging on it. Everything she does has to have her full commitment behind it or else it will all go to shit. By the time we are done, it is time to leave. The warlock, Magnus Bane, is here and is ready to make us a portal. Everyone piles into the elevator that takes you down to the chapel at the bottom of the Institute and Jace, Jonathan, and I all stand next to the doors.

Things with me and Jace have been a little awkward since this morning and it is really starting to bother me. It has only been a few hours and I already miss him and his friendship. I reach out with my hand to where his is hanging down by his side and hook my pinky finger into one of his fingers. His eyes dart down and he looks at our hands that are touching and then he looks back up to my face. I give him a small smile and try to tell him with my eyes that 'I don't want things to be difficult between us and that I miss him'. Somehow, he seems to understand and hooks his index finger around my pinky as his face softens immensely towards me as he returns my smile.

When the doors open, I am the first to step out and am quickly followed by my boys. We walk around the grounds and to the side of the building where we find the most colorful and sparkly person I have ever seen. I raise my eyebrows in surprise and disbelief at the site of him in a bright electric blue shirt as he turns to face us.

His eyes land on me and he gives me a once over and then they find Jonathan and he immediately tenses. "I am assuming you are Valentine and Jocelyn's children since the both of you are spitting images of them." he says with a hint of disdain in his voice.

"Yes, they are my children." my mother says as she walks around us and closer to Magnus. "Is there anything you have to say about that?" she asks him in a challenging tone.

"I have nothing to say at all." Magnus replies sounding completely disinterested. We start to move closer to him then when Alec walks around us and over to Magnus. "How long will this take? We are already a few minutes behind schedule." he says to him.

Magnus turns his head from where he had begun to work and his eyes land on Alec. They widen a little and the travel slowly down and then back up the length of Alec's body before meeting with his eyes again. "Well hello." Magnus says to him with a very flirtatious smile. "I'm Magnus Bane. High Warlock of Brooklyn. And you are...?" Magnus holds out one ring clad hand towards Alec and holds eye contact with him as he waits for Alec to take his hand.

"I'm Alec Lightwood." Alec says as he takes his hand and shakes it while a slight blush crosses his face. He drops his hand from Magnus' and then clears his throat as he tears his eyes away from where they were boring into the warlock's. "So how long?" Alec says sounding a little too business like to be genuine. It was almost cold the way he said it.

"Only a few minutes." Magnus says as he smiles at him again. "But for you, I think I can speed up the process since you are in a hurry." and then he winks at Alec.

Alec gives him a tight nod and ducks his head and turns away as he walks hurriedly back towards the front of the Institute and mutters about checking the locks on the doors as he passes. "Well _that_ was entertaining." Jonathan says sounding thoroughly amused. I elbow him in the ribs and he lets out a fake "Ow." and rubs his side.

A few minutes pass while Magnus opens the portal up for us and Alec thoroughly avoids contact with Magnus by engaging Jace in conversation about how something is going to work when we get there that is really of no importance. "All right, children of the Nephilim. Your portal is ready." Magnus says with a wave of his hand.

"Let's get this show on the road." I say with a smile as I first look to Jonathan and then to Jace. The portal is going to drop us about a mile outside of Allicante. Jonathan can't be seen with us or else Father will know that the story I said I told mom about Jonathan being a crazed psycho is a lie. And anyway, Jonathan has his own part to do as well. A part that no one besides me and Jace and Father know about. I don't think anyone here would be too keen on the idea if they knew about it but it has to be done.

We all land in a grassy field next to a gravel road that winds through a small valley and Magnus Bane follows behind us. Maryse has included him on the plans (because who knows when we will need a powerful warlock) and gave him limited information about what we were actually doing. He just knows that we are going to try to bring down Valentine and he was all too willing to help.

As I look around to make sure that everyone got here okay (with the exception of Simon who was ordered to stay behind to 'protect' the Institute by Maryse) and are ready. I look down and check that all of the weapons that I strapped on from the Institute are all still there and then look over to my mother who looks like and entirely different person in gear of her own and strapped down with weapons. Gone is the flowy floral shirt wearing artist and here is the fierce fighter that Father would tell us about.

"Is everybody ready?" I ask as they check all of their gear. I get a few 'readies' and nods of the head and then turn to face Jonathan who now has to leave. "Please be careful." I say as I look up to him. "I know you will be fine but...just be careful. Okay?"

He smiles warmly at me as his hands come up to cup my face. "I will be fine. You're being ridiculous." he says with a smile and then pulls me in and kisses me on my forehead. I really just want to shove my tongue down his throat but that will just have to wait. He lets go of my face as he pulls back and looks over my head to Jace who is standing behind me. "Take care of my sister." he says sternly to Jace.

"I always will." Jace says back to him in the most honest and sincere voice that I have ever heard come out of his mouth. "I won't let anything or anyone near her."

Jonathan relaxes a little and then gives him a tight nod before he looks back down to me. "I love you." he says with strong conviction.

"I love you too." I tell him and he gives me another quick kiss on my forehead before he takes off and disappears over a hill. I turn slightly to my side and look at Jace and then wrap my arms around his neck. He pulls me in and holds me for a second. "Tell me I am being ridiculous and that he will be fine." I tell Jace.

He rubs soothing circles on my back and I can hear the smile on his face as he says, "You _are_ being ridiculous. He is going to have a great time with what he has to do."

"I know." I say in defeat and then pull back. Jace's hand comes up and he cups one side of my face for a few seconds while searching my eyes for any sign that I might start running after Jonathan like a crazy person. His eyes search mine for a second longer before he leans in and gives me a tiny and chaste peck on my lips. "Stop worrying, Clary. Everything will work out." Jace says soothingly to me as he drops his hand and takes mine in his and pulls me with him towards the road.

* * *

As we climb the steps to the Accords Hall, the setting sun is bouncing off of the glass towers and creating a prism of colors on the glass ceiling of the Hall. It is absolutely beautiful and makes me long for my prisma color pencils so I can draw it before the vibrancy of the colors fades from my mind. Jace, the Lightwoods and I blend in well with the crowd and don't draw any attention to ourselves. Mom and Luke are hanging back and plan to sneak in the doors when everyone is seated and join me and Jace inside. If everyone only knew that she has the Mortal Cup in the small satchel that is slung across her chest...

We find a seat at the end of a long bench right along the center aisle. I place myself at the edge while Jace sits next to me and leaves a space for my mom and Luke, who is dressed in shadowhunter gear to blend in, while Alec sits on the other side with his family next to him. There are people standing along the walls around the Hall like I expected while people chat among each other and speculate what this emergency meeting could possibly be about.

Another ten minutes pass before my mom and Luke join us hurriedly as they duck their head to try to avoid recognition. When she sits down, she gives me a nervous look and I have to lean over and touch her hand to let her know that everything will work out when I see Consul Malachai Dieudonne, one of Father's most trusted associates, walk up to the dais at the front of the Hall. He looks out at the crowd expectantly as everyone quiets their conversations and turns their heads to him.

When it finally quiets down, Malachai straitens himself out as his eyes scan the crowd and he begins to speak. "I am sure that all of you are wondering why I have called this meeting today and are curious as to what could be so important that you all had to come here."

I hear someone say 'pssst' in my direction and I turn my head back and to the side a little to see Ellie and Victoria Dieudonne are waving excitedly at me from their seats. I give them a tiny wave back and then pull my head forward and back to the front as their father continues to speak. "Let me assure you, that the reason that I have called you all here is one of life and death."

A rumble of nervous chatter rolls through the crowd. Malachai's eyes continue to scan the crowd person by person as if he is looking for...me. His eyes land on me and he smiles widely for just a second and then his eyes pull away from me as his serious face returns. He looks to my side and his eyes lock in on my mother for a split second and then he is looking off to the side somewhere and gives someone a tight nod before he faces the large crowd again.

"Quiet down." he says with an authoritative voice and the room slowly quiets. "For too long, the Clave has bent to the will of downworlders and have let them take advantage of our mercy as they continue to spread their tainted blood across this world that we swore to protect." There is another low rumble that spreads across the room but Malachai doesn't stop his speech. "Well I for one say no more. I will not stand by and watch as they destroy this world and turn the humans that we are entrusted to protect into the monsters that they are. They deserve to be hunted down, one by one, until they are wiped from this Earth! This is a day of reckoning for the demon scum that plague us and today will go down in our history as the day that we said 'NO MORE'! Today will be the day that the Angel Raziel will smile down upon us, a proud father of his children as his Circle rises again and sets us down the path to righteousness and glory!"

The Hall is now at a full out shouting match. There are people shouting in anger at him while there are some who are raising their fists in triumph as chaos starts to unfold. Malachai then looks to his right with a huge smile on his face and I have to stand on the bench to see over the throngs of shouting people to see my father emerge from the shadows of the side of the Hall. There were quite a bit of audible gasps and whispers as some people are saying 'Valentine' in surprised voices.

That's my que. The people that are along the walls are my father's most trusted associates who then move in towards us. A few of them run up and grab my mom and Luke from behind and pull them to their feet as they try to fight them off. My mom manages to take two of them out before they get a good hold on her as Jace and I step out into the center aisle, hand in hand.

All of the circle members along the wall and a few groups that are strategically placed throughout the crowd all draw their weapons as the rest look to them in confusion. The greatest crime that one shadowhunter can commit against the other is taking the life of his fellow Nephilim. So when they pulled out their weapons and faced the crowd as they got into their fighting stances, most of them just stood in place as if they were frozen with shock.

"Clary!" my mother shouts at me from behind as we walk closer to the front. "What are you doing?!" I turn around and see her struggling to get free from the men that are holding her and I smile at her and say, "Everything will work out just fine, Mom." and then turn around and continue walking casually up to the front.

My father steps into view then, flanked by a half dozen circle members with their weapons drawn to protect him. When his eyes meet mine, he gives me the biggest smile and I return it with one of my own. "My beautiful daughter." he says. I barely hear him over the roar of shouting people and as we finally reach the steps to the dais, I hear my mother shout again. "Clary! No! Don't do this!"

I don't turn around this time and instead, walk into the awaiting arms of my father. I close my eyes and wrap my arms around him tightly and bury my face into his chest knowing that this may be the last time he will ever let me do it. Although he is an evil bastard, he is still my father. The father who raised me and would say that he loved me when he would tuck me in at night as a child. "I'm proud of you, Clarissa." I hear him say into my hair. The tone and tenor of his voice is one that I have rarely heard from him. It is the same voice that he would tell me that he loved me in when he first took me. I heard it when I showed him what I could do with runes and I heard it the first time that I beat Jonathan in hand to hand combat.

I squeeze him tighter for a few seconds before I let him go as a tear wells up in my eye. He looks down at me then and smiles as he sees this and kisses me on the forehead and says, "I love you too." He then pulls Jace in for a short hug and claps him on the back.

I turn around then to see that my mom has now started to cry. I few tears have run down her face as she looks at us with betrayal in her eyes. "Clary." she chokes out. "I trusted you. How could you?"

"Mom." I say softly as I walk over to her. The crowd has quieted almost completely now as they have all turned their attention to what is going on on the dais where we are. "I told you he wasn't the monster you thought he was." I say in a soothing voice as I reach her. "He only wants what is best for our race. He wants to uphold Raziel's decree and wipe all of demon kind off of the earth." I reach out with a knife in my hand and bring it up to the strap of the satchel. "Did I tell you that he still loves you too?" I say as I pull the blade of the knife across the strap and pull the satchel away from her body. She shakes her head vehemently as I keep my eyes on her and more tears roll down her face.

"He took you...my baby, away from me. Both of them." she says through her shaky voice.

Father appears at my side then and I turn to see that his face has taken on an expression that I have never seen before. His eyes are shining slightly and the wrinkles that were a prominent feature around his face are now smoothed out and are barely noticeable. He is looking at her how I have seen Jonathan, and even Jace, look at me. "Jocelyn." he says softly to her. Her eyes jerk to him as she narrows them at him slightly.

"You took my children from me." she spits at him angrily as she struggles against the men holding her. I can see that Luke has been pulled off to the side of the hall and has been gagged.

"And you betrayed me." he says to her. "I didn't mean to make Jonathan what he is and I know that I made a mistake with him. But you have to understand that you had _no_ _right_ to take my daughter away from me. I am her father. Does that not mean anything to you?"

"It didn't at the time because you had already taken one of my children from me and I wan't about to let you do the same to her." she replies back to him.

"But darling," he coos at her, "I swore on the Angel that I would never experiment on my children ever again after Jonathan. I saw how it almost destroyed you and all I wanted was for you to be happy. I wanted to give you everything you ever wanted. You and our children meant the world to me and I did the best I knew how to at the time. I have changed now. I have grown older and less angry with the world and I have been a wonderful father to our children. I am sure that Clary has at least told you that much."

Mom purses her lips as her eyes dart back to me and she looks like she wants to deny it but can't. "You see?" Father says with a smile on his face, "I am not the monster you or anyone else thinks I am. All I want is for us to do what we were created to do. I know that you once felt just as strongly as I do about this until that demon spawn snuck in when you were vulnerable and filled your mind with lies and manipulated you. Lucian has always been in love with you and was so incredibly jealous and angry that you loved me and not him that when he saw his opportunity to destroy what I had, he took it. Can't you see that now?" he says passionately as he brings his hands up and places them on either side of her face. "I still love you, my darling. These past almost twenty years without you have been torture. I know that we have a lot to work out but I think that we can do it. I know that you still love me and I am willing to put in the effort to fix us if you are."

My mother remains quiet as tears roll down her face and over my father's hands that cup her face. Her eyes that were once angry slits have softened considerably as she holds eye contact with him. "I...I don't know, Val." she says uncertainly in a small voice to him.

He smiles at her when she says this and rubs his thumbs under her eyes to wipe away the moisture there. "It's okay, darling. We don't have to talk about it now." he replies softly to her. "There is something I must do first and then we will have all the time in the world to talk." She only looks at him and makes no movement of agreement as he leans forward and gives her a peck on the lips. He then turns to face me then and looks down purposefully at the satchel in my hand.

I reach down and unzip it and dive my hand into the bag. I feel my fingers touch the hard surface of the cup and wrap them around the stem and pull it out. When it is finally free and the cup is out and in the open, there is a wave of gasps that rolls through the Hall followed by shouts of "It's the Mortal Cup!" as the roar of Nephilim here get louder and louder.

Father's eyes grow wide as I see the power hungry man I have known all my life return in full force as he reaches out for it. The moment his fingers take the cup from mine, his smile gets bigger than I have ever seen it before as his eyes bore holes into the sacred artifact.

"To finally see everything that I have dedicated my life to come to fruition...it is the greatest joy I have ever known." he whispers mostly to himself as he turns away and starts to walk back to the middle of the dais. When he gets there, a swift hush engulfs the room as he raises the cup in the air as he shouts, "Behold the future of the Nephilim! You can either join me or die at the hands of those who surround you!"

The moment the last word falls from his mouth, the glass towers begin to flash red. Everyone in the Hall begins to look around frantically in confusion as my father closes his eyes and whispers something like a prayer to himself. I look up to the glass ceiling to the now dark sky of night, and begin to see even darker things crawling up the slope of the roof on the outside. The room bursts into an even louder roar when the doors fly open and the site of demons crawling the streets of Allicante startle everyone inside into a state of terror. A demon has never set foot in this city until now.

Father's circle members move in closer to the crowd, holding them in place as panic starts to spread.

"Do you see what I can do?!" Father shouts in his booming voice over the noise of the crowd. "I can bring down the wards and command a never ending army of demons that will lay waste to the those of the Nephilim that refuse me!"

I look back out to the doors of the Hall anxiously as I watch for any sign of Jonathan. He should have been here by now. As if he can read my mind, Jace moves closer to me and reaches out and touches my arm. "He'll be here." he says lowly to me and I give him a tight nod. I look back to father who now has and evil power hungry smile plastered across his face. "There is only one logical choice!" Father shouts out to the crowd over their jumbled angry and surprised voices.

I see a flash of white out of the corner of my eye and I snap my head to the doors and am overwhelmed with relief to see Jonathan strolling casually through the door with his sword drawn. "Jonathan." I breathe out in relief as his eyes find mine.

"I told you so." Jace says in my ear as my eyes follow Jonathan's every move.

People along the center aisle he is walking down stare at him in shock and slight horror as the resemblance between him and Valentine is too large to not notice as he gets closer and closer to me. When he reaches the bottom step, I hurriedly walk to him and wrap him in a tight hug that he returns. "I told you I would be fine." he says with an amused tone. "You sound like Jace." I say to him and he chuckles. "I heard him tell you that as I walked in." he says and then pulls back.

I turn and walk back up the steps to and look up to my mother who has the most horrified look on her face. "What did you do, Clary?" she says somberly to me. This is part of the plan that no one knew about and I can see that my mother feels utterly betrayed by my omission. "How could you do this?" she says again and I just turn and look at Father who is watching us.

"Did we disappoint you Father?" I ask him.

"Not at all, my children." he coos as his eyes land on each of the three of us for a moment before looking back out to the throng of angry and shocked people. His face is overwhelmingly triumphant as he smiles down at the chaos that he has caused. Malachai and Pangborn come and stand with him on either side of him as they too smile wickedly at their fellow shadowhunters that are slowly being pushed together by the swords of the surrounding circle members.

I look to my left at Jace who gives me a small nod and then to my right at Jonathan who looks warmly down at me as I mouth to him, "It's time."

He dips his head a little and brings one hand up to the side of my face and holds my face there for a second as he says, "Now it's time for my birthday present to you." I furrow my brows for a second in confusion as he steps away and nonchalantly walks over to Father who is still beaming from ear to ear. Father notices his approach and I take a few steps closer towards them and strain my ears to hear Jonathan. "Father." he says, grabbing his attention. "There is something you should know."

"What is it, Jonathan?" Father asks questioningly.

I see Jonathan move his hand up and over his head and then with a flick of his wrist, an arrow flies into the neck of Malachai Dieudonne and he collapses as a whip wraps around the neck of Pangborn and pulls taught. He chokes for a moment and then it slices into his neck, severing his wind pipe and killing him.

I look over to the back of the dais and see Alec and Isabelle with their weapons drawn as they ready themselves for whoever might come next. Another second passes before I look back to Jonathan and Father and see Father's purely shocked face as he looks to his number one and two lying dead on the dais on either side of him. Jonathan then lands a few pointed and forceful blows to Father and he takes the Cup out of his hand as Alec comes up and points an arrow right at Father's heart.

I can hear Izzy's whip making quick work of the people who are holding my mother while Maryse swings her sword at them to help her daughter. Another few seconds pass and then we have control of the dais. My mother walks over to my father where she pulls a knife out of her belt and brings it to Valentine's back and says, "Do you remember when you taught me how to sever a man's spine and pierce his heart all at the same time?"

Father still looks too shocked to form any coherent words as his eyes focus in on Jonathan's smiling face. Down in the Hall, pandemonium has broken out. Some of the circle members have turned and run after seeing what happened up here while others have thrown themselves into fighting. The clanging of clashing swords fill the room along with grunts of effort and some shouts of pain.

Jace and I then hurry over to where Jonathan is walking up to Father with an evil look in his eyes. "You should know, Father," Jonathan says with triumph in his voice, "that I promised Clary a birthday present. And do you know what that present is?"

Father remains quiet as his eyes begin to blaze with understanding and hatred as he looks at his son. "It's taking away everything you ever worked for. I am giving her the Clave because she is the only one that I love. She is the only one that has ever loved me and I will give her everything that her heart desires while you...you will rot in the dungeons of the Silent City for what you did to me and to her." His voice is growing angrier and louder as he speaks. "You will _NEVER_ be able to lay a hand on her or me ever again! You will _NEVER_ again use the love we have for each other against us! You will _NEVER_ again take and hurt what is mine! Clary will rule beside me and we will remake the Clave in our image while you suffer as much as you made us suffer!"

Father turns his head towards me then and I get a chill that runs down the length of my spine from his cold eyes. " _YOU._ " he growls out angrily at me through his clenched teeth. "You are just like your mother."

"Alec!" I shout at him as I see a group of people sneaking up behind him. He spins around as I see Izzy run and join him.

I look back to Valentine who is still glaring at me. "I should have known you would be a treacherous whore like your mother." he spits out. Jonathan back hands him then across his face and says, "That is no way to talk to your new queen, now is it?"

'Queen?' I think to myself as Jonathan spins around and levels his sword in his hand while the other holds on tightly to the Mortal Cup. I look up at the ceiling and see the demons are in a frenzy as they watch the chaos below and their mouths water to get in on the action. Too bad for them that my brother holds the cup in his hand now and controls them.

I look back down to see that all of the remaining circle members have formed a sort of battle line and are surging forward and up the stairs of the dais. I step forward a little towards them as I pull out my own sword and see that Jonathan is now smiling maniacally as they start to rush him. He is really enjoying this and I can see just how excited he is that he gets to let himself go and cut down all of these people.

My mom still has a knife to my father's back and I quickly glance at her to make sure she is alright while the Lightwoods fight behind her. She gives me a quick nod as I put my back to them and come and stand in between Jonathan and Jace. The line of circle members have reached my boys then and Jonathan and Jace start to make quick work of those who engage them. Jonathan is laughing as he effortlessly slices through person after person while Jace looks like the picture of concentration mixed with ease as he destroys anyone who comes near him.

I look down and see that a few circle members have broken away and have started to come for me. I smile wickedly down at them and ready myself. I balance my sword perfectly in my hand and pull a dagger out of my belt and hold it in my other one. I hear a grunt of pain and then a quick scuffle behind me and then my mother screams out "Clary!" as I feel something sharp pierce the skin at my back. Before I can move to turn, the pain grows ten fold and I feel an immense pressure in my stomach. I look down and see that the edge of the blade of a sword is sticking grossly out of the front of my stomach.

"You _bitch._ _You_ did this. You traitorous _whore._ " my father growls in my ear. I turn my head in time to see him turn the ring on his finger and disappear. The sword he was holding in me slides out and falls to ground with a clatter.

"Jonathan?" I say in a small voice. Something about the tone of it must of caught his attention because he instantly turn and looks at me. My hands have gone down to the hole in my abdomen and I look down and pull them away to see that they are now covered in blood. When I look back up at him, his face has gone cold and pale as his eyes widen with absolute horror as he sees the whole in me and the bloody sword on the dais beside me.

" _CLARY!_ " he yells out in the most tortured voice.

My legs turn to jelly then and I start to fall backwards. A set of arms catch me as I start to sway and I hear my mother's voice by my ear. "Clary. Clary. Oh no. Not my baby." Her voice is trembling and she chokes on her words, making them fumble out of her mouth.

I watch as the remaining circle members turn and run as Jonathan angrily slices through one of them and then turns to me. Jace finishes his guy off and looks hurriedly back at me where I now lay on the ground leaning against my mother. His eyes widen in horror as he drops his sword and it bangs against the floor where it falls. "CLARY!" he shouts out in a horrified and worried voice.

Jonathan reaches me then and locks his eyes with mine as he scoops me out of my mother's arms and into his. He looks absolutely panicked. It's a look I have never seen on his face before and it breaks my heart. Jace then comes up on my other side and grabs my hand and pulls out his stele with his other. I can faintly feel the sting of a stele on my hip as one of Jonathan's hands comes up and caresses my face. "Clary." he says sounding completely broken.

"Jonathan." I say weakly as I try to move my hands to his face, but fail miserably. The pain in my abdomen is blinding and the blood pouring from it is making parts of my body feel like a cement block is tied to it when I try to move it.

"It's not working." I hear Jace say with wild panic in his voice as the stele flies across my skin.

"Here." Jonathan says as he grabs my stele from my pocket and puts it in my hand. "Let her do it." he says and then grabs my hand and puts it on my stomach. I try to move my fingers to draw but they just fall away and my stele falls to the floor.

"Oh God, Clary. _Please_ hang on." I hear Jace say as his head rests on my shoulder. "Jace." I say as my eyes turn to him. He looks up at me with tears running down his face. I try my best to smile at him but it probably just comes out as a grimace.

I move my eyes back to Jonathan who looks like he is slowly dying himself. "You can't leave me, Clary. I can't do this without you." he says weakly as his hand cups my head against him. My vision starts to blur and I see stars when I look up at him.

"It's okay." I say to him as he looks down at me while his face contorts into unbearable pain. "I love you." I say as my limbs fall to my side and everything goes black as a blanket of heaviness settles over me.

* * *

 **Please don't kill me! Put the torches and pitch forks down! There is still another chapter...but will Clary be in it? Muahaha!**

 **Btw, I wanted to thank everyone. I just reached a hundred reviews! Yay! Ya'll are the best!**


	20. Chapter 20

**I know that this whole story has been in first person pov, but this chapter will be different. It is easier for me to tell this part of the story in third person so this is how this chapter will go. Sorry if I confuse anyone.**

* * *

The past three and a half months for Jace and Jonathan have been the worst and most chaotic of their lives. Jace can't help but think about that horrible day that sent his life spiraling out of control. He dreams about it almost every night while Jonathan barely gets any sleep at all. Most of his nights are spent tossing and turning and him pacing the floor of whatever room he is in. The sight of Clary laying lifeless in Jonathan's arms while he screams out the most enraged and blood curdling scream that he has ever hear come out of any creature are what usually startle him awake.

Three and a half months earlier...

Jace watches in agonizing horror as the woman he loves closes her eyes and takes one last breath as she tells her brother she loves him. Her hand that was holding his weakly goes limp as her chest stops moving. The pain that spreads across his heart now completely over powers him. Breathing for him becomes almost an impossible task as a five ton weight was just settled on his chest.

" _NOOOOO!_ " Jonathan yells out so loud that the whole building rattles. "Clary! No! _Wake up!_ " he shouts heart-breakingly at her. His hands run across her face and through her hair as he leans down and kisses her on her forehead and then places a small kiss on her lips. He can hear Jocelyn's choked sobs coming from close by but doesn't look up from his angel's face. If it weren't' for the streaks of blood from him and Jonathan touching her face then she would look like she was sleeping.

"There has to be a way." Jonathan says suddenly as he looks up from Clary's body that he is cradling to his chest. His eyes are blazing with determination as they find Jace's. "There has to be a way to bring her back. I know there is."

Jace looks back down at his love and brings her hand up to his lips. He closes his eyes as tears fall freely from them and presses a long hard kiss on the back of her hand before pulling it away. He looks up to Jonathan as he says, "Then we will find it."

* * *

Present day...

"Jace." Jonathan says as he walks over to the chair where Jace fell asleep for the night some time ago. "We got another tip. He was spotted in a small town in Italy by some faeries."

"I'm up." Jace says as he jumps up. He looks down and checks his gear to make sure everything is there before following Jonathan, who looks like he could sleep for a month, out of the room and down the rickety stairs of the inn they are staying at in Greece. "Did you wake Magnus and Alec?" Jace asks him.

"Magnus is the one who recieved the tip." Jonathan replies as he reaches the bottom of the stairs. "He apparently used to date the one who tipped him off a hundred years ago."

"Don't tell Alec." Jace says jokingly. "He gets a little crazy with jealousy."

"I thought he was going to kill that blonde vampire we came across." Jonathan says with a chuckle. They turn another corner and step through the doors of the inn and out onto a deserted street. It is probably only five in the morning as the sun starts to peak over the horizon.

"It will take just a minute." Magnus says as he begins to make a portal. He has been with Jace and Jonathan since the beginning. Alec refused to let Jace go by himself with Jonathan so he came along as well and for the past two months, Magnus and him have been a couple. As odd it might look for someone so shiny and sparkly to be with someone who tries his hardest to blend into his surroundings, it seems to work for them. And the closer Alec and Magnus seemed to get, the closer Jace and Jonathan became.

They have been slicing their way across the globe in search of their father. They have mowed down countless circle members in their search, working in perfect sync with each other, fighting side by side. When they had the need to extricate information from someone, Jonathan would be the hand that would torture them as Jace played it cool with a smile on his face as he asked the questions. Jonathan had finally found the friend that he had longed for his whole life. Jace would be the one to remind him when he would sometimes get too carried away that Clary would want him to take it easy. Jace had his back like no other ever had except for Clary. It was just as Clary had wanted it to be between them. Because they had a common goal and their love for Clary to connect them, they had become like brothers with a single goal in mind. Find Valentine, make him tell them where Ithuriel is and then bring back their girl.

"Are you ready, brother?" Jonathan asks as he looks at Jace who is at his side.

"I was born ready, brother." Jace says with a wicked grin as the portal opens up.

The portal dumps them out in an alley between what looks like two homes. Magnus and Alec land after them as Jonathan and Jace look up and down the alley to get their bearings. "So what now?" Alec says to no one in particular.

"Where is this faerie of yours?" Jace asks Magnus as he turns to face him.

"I was told that she would be here." he answers.

Jonathan huffs a breath of annoyance and narrows his eyes at Magnus. Jace raises his hand and places it on Jonathan's shoulder and he turns to face him. "We came very quickly." Jace says to him. "I am sure she is on her way." Jonathan takes a calming breath before he gives Jace a tight nod and then they are waiting. A very long and tense five minutes pass before a beautiful purple haired faerie turns the corner in a long flowy dress. "Magnus." she says to him with a warm smile. "It has been too long."

"Indeed it has." Magnus agrees as she closes the distance between them.

"You have word of my father?" Jonathan asks when she comes to a stop in front of them.

"I do." she answers with a smile. "The fey want to see him captured and killed just as much as you do. That is why I sent a message to Magnus here. I knew that he has been by your side and providing service for you."

"Yes, that's great. Now where is he?" Jace says interrupting her. His patience was wearing thin as she spoke. He wanted answers now. The longer he had to wait, the longer he went without Clary.

"Thank you, brother." Jonathan says as he glances at Jace. "You took the words right out of my mouth."

The faerie girl gives the both of them an amused smile before answering. "One of our woodland creatures thinks they saw him hiding in the loft of a barn of one of his former circle members. It is about a twenty minute walk north from this spot."

"And when was this?" Jonathan asks brusquely.

"Only an hour ago." she says with a smile over at Magnus. "The creature came to me because he knew of my history with Magnus." She then winks at Magnus and Alec stiffens a little.

"What is the address?" Jace asks impatiently.

"Such a hurry." she says as she takes her eyes off of Magnus and then puts them on Jace. "It is 42 Betulla Corsia."

Without a moments hesitation, Jonathan and Jace start running. They can hear the faerie mutter something about manners as their superhuman speed carries them out of town and away from Alec and Magnus who have given up trying to keep up with them. The cold air of January whips them in the face as the grey clouds above the early morning threaten to drop snow on them at any moment. Jonathan has to slow himself a little so Jace can keep up, but not by much. His extra angel blood allows him to be stronger and therefore he is able to push his body further with each step.

Jonathan looks over to Jace and he smiles wickedly as Jace returns it with a wicked smile of his own. "We have never been so close if this information is true." Jace says as they run.

"I can almost taste it." Jonathan replies with a rough voice. "I will make him tell me where he is if it is the last thing I ever do."

"We are close to having our girl back." Jace says with a smile that Jonathan mirrors. They run in concentration and silence the rest of the way. Only eight minutes pass before they reach the address the faerie gave them. There is a small stone house with smoke coming out of the chimney and a few chickens in a coupe beside it. Back behind the house is a large wooden barn and that is where they start to head.

The move in unspoken unison as Jonathan moves around to the outside of the barn and Jace moves to go inside. There is a small window in the loft of the barn that would provide a good escape for their Father if he needed. The only thing is, they have to sneak up on him. They are sure he still has his ring and to keep him from disappearing like he did when he stabbed Clary, they have to secure his arms before he knows that they are there.

Jonathan starts to soundlessly climb the outside of the barn using the splintered and broken wood that is there while Jace sneaks inside and starts to climb the ladder to the loft. Jace gets to the top and slowly peeks over the hay that matches his hair perfectly. At first, he sees nothing. He is about to jump down and go outside to Jonathan when movement from one of the corners catches his eyes.

He raises up a little more and sees Valentine lying on a blanket with disheveled hair and a healthy short grey beard. Gone is the pressed and tailored man that he always knew and there in the corner, huddled up in a pile of shabby blankets is a man that has been driven to his end.

Jace sees a flash of white at the window and makes eye contact with Jonathan. Jace nods his head in the direction of Valentine and then his black eyes find him. There is an overwhelming sense of blood lust that then comes from him as he climbs in the window without making the slightest sound and Jace pulls himself up and over to the hay filled floor of the loft.

Valentine is lying there with a sword by his side as he obviously tries to get some sleep. There are deep bags under his eyes that are surely from stress and lack of sleep as he has been hunted non-stop since that day. Jace and Jonathan unsheathe their swords and look at each other and smile one last time before bringing the tips of their swords to Valentine's sleeping body. Jonathan's sword is at his throat while Jace's is at the hand that the ring is on.

Jonathan's foot comes out and kicks the sleeping man on his leg a couple of times. "Wakey, wakey, dear Father." he says with a playful yet blood chilling tone to his voice.

Valentine's eyes fly open wide as he rolls slightly to try and make an escape. "Uh, uh, uh." Jonathan says as his sword pushes a little into his neck and a drop of blood wells up under it. "There is no escaping now."

Valentine then looks to Jace who is crouching down as his sword pushes his hand into the floor of the barn. He reaches out and grabs the ring and roughly pulls it off of his hand as he says, "I'll take that." with a lilt to his voice.

Once the ring is securely in Jace's pocket, Jonathan brings his foot back and kicks his father in the side with incredible force. Valentine chokes out a breath as he clutches at his stomach. "What's the matter, Father?" Jonathan asks mockingly. "Does your stomach hurt?"

"Jonathan," Valentine manages to choke out in a hoarse voice. "You have to listen to me."

Jonathan's face then turns ten shades redder as his anger gets the better of him. His eyes get blacker and glaze over as he starts to shake with rage. "I do not have to listen to you any _fucking_ more!" He half shouts and half growls at him. "You now have to listen to _ME_!"

He reaches down and grabs Valentine by the throat and raises him off the ground with minimal effort until his father's toes are barely reaching the ground. "You took the _ONLY_ good thing in my life away from me!" he shouts at him as Valentine's face starts to go pale from lack of blood. "And now...you will tell me where Ithuriel is or I swear on the Angel that I will keep you alive only for the soul purpose to torture you all day, every day, for the rest of your pathetic life!"

Valentine chokes a little as his face begins to turn blue as he tries weakly to swing at Jonathan and pull his arms away. Jonathan lowers him an inch and lets go a little of his hold around his neck and he sucks in a deep breath. After a few seconds, both men grow tired of waiting for an answer. Jace pulls out a bone handled knife and brings it to Valentine's hand and swiftly cuts off his pinky.

He yells out a quick shout of pain and then clamps down on it as he tries to show his sons that he isn't afraid of them with his eyes. "One down. Nineteen to go...if you don't cut them off joint by joint." Jace says with a flippant tone. "Did you know, Jonathan, that the finger tips have thousands of densely packed nerve endings? That is why it hurts so much when you get even the tiniest paper cut."

"No, Jace." Jonathan says with a smile. "I didn't know that. Thank you so much for telling me that." He turns back to look at his father with a smile. "Did you hear that, Father? I wonder what it would feel like if I cut your fingertips with demon metal? Do you think that it would hurt more or less than when it sliced into my back?"

Valentine's eyes grow cold as he meets his with Jonathan's and refuses to back down. "Why do you want to know where Ithuriel is?" he asks with a hint of a smile on his face.

"That is top secret, father, and you lost your right to know when you slid your sword through your own daughter's back like a coward." Jonathan growls at him.

"I'll make a deal with you, Jonathan." Valentine says to him. "I'll tell you where Ithuriel is if you swear to let me walk out of this barn and into those woods over there."

Jonathan furrows his brows at his father as he makes such a simple request. "What?" Jace asks stepping forward. "No 'swear that you won't hurt me' or 'don't kill me'?" he asks disbelievingly. "And here I thought this was going to be entertaining."

Jonathan's face then pulls up and into a wide smile. "That sounds like a fair enough deal." to his father as his eyes gloss over with twisted glee. He sets him all of the way down and then pulls his hand away from his throat. "Where is Ithuriel?" Jonathan asks sternly.

"In the cellar at Wayland Manor." Valentine says flatly.

"But there is no cellar at Wayland manor." Jace says with aggravation. "You have three seconds to tell us the truth before I cut off something more significant than a finger." and he raises his sword and points it at his crotch.

Valentine rolls his eyes and then receives a punch from Jonathan. " _Don't_ disrespect him." Jonathan says through gritted teeth.

Valentine spits out a mouthfull of blood before pulling his head back up and looking in his son's eyes. "I told you where Ithuriel is, now hold up your end of the deal." Jonathan narrows his eyes at him for a moment before saying. "He's telling the truth." to Jace.

"I lived there for ten years." Jace replies. "I think I would have noticed a cellar."

Valentine's mouth then curves up showing his blood stained teeth through his amused smile before he says, "No. Apparently you wouldn't have." He runs a hand through his disheveled hair as he straitens out and starts to exude an air of authority that isn't fitting for the situation. "Now that that is taken care of, I will be on my way."

Jonathan moves to the side and lets him pass while Jace glares daggers at Jonathan for letting this happen. "Why are we letting him walk away?" Jace asks Jonathan.

"Don't worry, brother." Jonathan says as a wide smile pulls up the corners of his mouth as he leans in and whispers, "He won't get very far. And anyway, he was telling the truth. We will have to inspect the manor closely."

They both turn and walk over to the window of the loft and watch as their father comes into view as he casually strolls over to the wood line about twenty yards away. The moment he takes one step into the woods, Jonathan and Jace jump effortlessly out of the window and land with grace onto the ground. They take off and see Valentine about ten feet into the woods bent over as he reaches for something. They close the distance in a matter of half of a second and see that he is frozen like that. Valentine's eyes are moving but nothing else. Jace looks down and sees that there is a ring, just like the one in his pocket sitting on top of a small duffel bag that he was obviously reaching for.

"I caught something." Magnus says appearing behind the two blonde men. His fingers are sparking blue as he points them at Valentine and then he winks at them.

"Thanks, Magnus." Jace says with a smile. "I'll take that." he says again as he bends down and picks up the second ring and then tosses it to Jonathan. He catches it and smiles as he looks down at it. "I thought I had lost this." he says as he slides it on his right ring finger. "Thanks for bringing it to me, Father." he says with a smile on his lips.

"You can let him go, Magnus. He can't run from us anymore." Jace tells him with a note of triumph in his voice. Magnus lowers his hand as the blue sparks subside and Valentine collapses to the ground.

"I bet you thought you were so smart." Jonathan says as he crouches down and hovers over his father as he pulls himself onto his hands and knees. "Too bad for you that I have made a few friends in my search for you. You were never going anywhere but with me." Valentine looks up at his son and then swings his hand out that has somehow produced a knife and tries to slice his son's throat. Jonathan leans just out of the reach of the blade and just laughs. "Oh father." he says between rolls of laughter. "Did you really think that was going to work?"

"No, he didn't." Jace says as he goes to stand by Jonathan's side. "But he's desperate so he had to try. Right father?" he asks him.

Valentine then pushes himself up and brushes off the dirty gear he is wearing and stands up straight. "Tell me." he starts to say as he looks between his two sons. "What did Clarissa's face look like when she died? Which one of you did she call out for?"

Jonathan's whole body tightens while Jace is the one who loses control this time. He brings his sword up with ease and runs it through his body just below his shoulder and backs him up to a nearby tree. He finishes pushing the blade all the way through his father's shoulder and pins him to the tree with it as his Valentine grunts in pain. He then brings his hands up and starts to mercilessly punch him over and over again in the face letting all of the hurt and frustration out that he has kept in over the past few months.

One blow to the chin for lying about who he was to him his whole life. An uppercut to his jaw for faking his death in front of him when he was just a boy. A jab to his eye for experimenting on him when he was just a baby in his mother's womb. A punch to his cheek for killing his beautiful Clary. He can't seem to find it in himself to stop, fueled by the hundreds of reasons for his anger.

A large cut opens up on Valentine's cheek from his assault and blood starts to pour out of it as he lands another powerful blow to his eye where all of the blood vessels break in his eyeballs and turns the whites of his eye red. Jace continues his assault until cuts on his hand open up and Valentine slumps from unconsciousness as the sword holds the weight of his body upright.

After beating him unconscious, Jace stands back up straight as he breathes heavily from the exertion, both physical and emotional. Jonathan steps over to him and places a hand on his shoulder. "This will only be the beginning of the misery we will give him." he says in a comforting tone.

Jace turns and looks at him and gives him a nod before reaching up and pulling his sword out of the tree and Valentine's shoulder. He falls to the ground, rustling the leaves underneath him, as Jonathan steps forward and pulls out electrum wire. He flips his father over and hog ties his hands and feet together behind his back and looks up to Magnus and Alec. "Can you take him back to the mansion for me and put him in the last cellar on the right?" Magnus steps forward and gives him a tight nod as he looks disgustedly down at the unconscious body. "I sure can." he says as he starts to open up a portal.

"Oh, and Magnus?" Jonathan says as the portal begins to open up. "There is a key that he thinks that I don't know about hidden under the third brick to the right of the cellar door. Make sure and take that before you leave him in there."

"I will." he replies. "I will also make the bars give him a little shock if he touches them. Maybe I will make him turn blue...either way, there is no need to worry about him. He won't be going anywhere. As much fun as I have had running the planet with the two of you while searching for him, I would really love to go home for a while. No offense."

"None taken." Jace replies with a smile. They watch as Alec and Magnus drag Valentine through the portal and it snaps closed. Jace then looks to Jonathan and says, "Have you ever been to Wayland manor?"

"I have. Do you still have Father's ring?" Jonathan asks. Jace reaches down to the pocket where he put the ring and pulls it out and holds it up. "It's yours now, Jace." Jonathan says with a wide smile. "Twin rings for brothers. Slide it on. See if it fits." he urges Jace.

He looks down at the ring and then puts it on his right ring finger. It slips into place; a perfect fit. "It fits. Now how does it work?"

Jonathan comes to stand next to him then. "It is like a portal. You just think of where you want to go and then twist it around your finger."

"How about the library at Wayland manor?" Jace suggests and Jonathan gives him a smile. "You read my mind." and then reaches down and twists his ring and disappears. Jace grabs the ring with his other hand and twists it as he closes his eyes and when he opens them back up, Jonathan is standing in front of him grinning from ear to ear. "That ring looks good on you." he remarks as he looks down at Jace's hand and he smiles back at him. Never in a million years did Jace think that the day he met Jonathan that he would find a brother in him. These past few months have really bonded them. Their mutual love and devotion to Clary is what kept the both of them going and drove them to keep going when there were no leads.

Jonathan eventually told him about him and Clary and that he was the boyfriend that she had. To say that Jace was surprised would be an understatement. Then Jonathan had explained why and how it came about that they got together. Father had tainted their blood so much that they couldn't be considered being blood related anymore and how their childhood had bonded them in ways that no other could. And he saw the way that Jonathan looked at Clary. It was obvious to the whole world that he loved her and only her and would do anything for her. The more Jonathan explained, the more Jace understood. If he found out that Clary was his sister today, he wouldn't care. He would still love her and want to be with her. (don't write me and tell me he wouldn't because he tried to convince Clary to run away with him and live together in the COA. And Clary did the same thing at the end of COA when she went to the Institute to tell him she wanted to be with him. Neither one of them cared that they were siblings, or so they thought) So he really couldn't condemn Jonathan and Clary for their relationship. In some ways, he even understood it.

Jace then told him how much he loved Clary and how he would do anything for her as well. Jonathan seemed a little agitated at first but as they spent more time together, it became easier for them to talk about their mutual love for their girl. It was a complicated mess of hearts and feelings that only the three of them could ever really understand. Now, he has found a brother in Jonathan just like he did with Alec. He understands Jonathan in ways that no one else but Clary ever would because of his knowledge of his blood. They worked well together and looking back, he is thankful for what the past three and half months has done for their relationship.

"Where do we start looking?" Jonathan says as he looks around the dim room. The sun was just coming up here and the room was getting brighter and brighter as the sun rose over the hill behind the manor.

"Maybe he wrote something in one of his journals." he says as he steps forward and reaches the top shelf where there is about fifteen journals. "There has to be a door somewhere." Jonathan says as he starts walking along the wall and knocking on it. He travels down one wall and then continues on to the next, all the while knocking and listening for a hollow sound. Jace pulls down a few of his father's journals and sets them on a nearby desk and starts to flip through them. Jonathan then turns onto the next wall that is the one with bookshelves along the length of it and starts pulling down all of the books with a sweep of his hands so he can knock behind them. On the third shelf, the sound changes as his knuckles rap on the back of the shelf.

Jace's head snaps up, as he was listening to the sounds as well, and their eyes meet and lock. Jace drops the journal that was in his hand onto the desk and takes a few long strides over to the wall and quickly reaches Jonathan's side. "The wall sounds hollow here." Jonathan says as he inspects the shelf closely. "But I don't see why."

"Here." Jace says as he reaches a hand up and knocks down a whole shelf of books. "Get rid of all the books. There has to be something behind them." Both men reach up and drag their hands along the shelves from the bottom up, moving quickly as they inspect each shelf for anything out of the ordinary. They get the second shelf from the top and Jonathan lets out a groan of frustration before he says, "This is taking too long."

"There is only one more shelf." Jace says and reaches up and knocks down the rest of Valentine's journals. The moment the books pull away from the shelf, a clicking noise starts. They both freeze and look to the bookshelf as the clicking continues and then one side of the shelf separates from the rest and pops open just a little. Jonathan, who is closest to the opening, turns and looks at Jace as they both share a wide smile with each other. Jonathan pulls open the door and sees a rickety spiral staircase that leads down into darkness. Jace pulls out his witchlight and holds it high as they step onto the stairs and start to descend together.

When they get to the bottom and step onto the cellar floor, the first thing they see are bones. There are bones everywhere and they crunch under their feet as they walk. Human bones, animal bones, even tiny bones that Jace doesn't want to know where they came from. "Over there." Jonathan says and raises his hand up and points to a corner of the cellar.

There is a type of curtain and you can see some sort of human like shape down at the bottom through the thin material. Jonathan and Jace both walk to the corner quickly and Jonathan pulls back the curtain to see the most horrific sight that he has ever seen.

Crouched down and looking completely emaciated is the angel Ithuriel. The one whose blood courses through his veins. "Ithuriel." Jace whispers in astonishment. The angel then turns his head up and looks with his gaunt eyes at him and opens his mouth.

Jace hears words fill his mind. It sounds and feels similar to how the Silent Brothers speak. "I know why you are here, Jace Herondale." says the angelic voice. "But there is no need for my blood."

"What do you mean?" he asks with his mind.

"My blood runs in your veins." Ithuriel answers and then he closes his mouth and looks back down at the ground.

"What did he say?" Jonathan asks eagerly, stepping closer to Jace.

"He said that we don't need his blood. That it already runs through my veins."

"So what does that mean?" Jonathan asks with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I am assuming it means that we can make a daylighter with my blood." Jace answers his brother.

"So you're telling me that we never had to find Father to bring Clary back?" he says growing more and more agitated as he speaks. "That we could have had her back this whole time?!" He then turns to Ithuriel and takes an angry step towards him and bounces off some sort of invisible barrier.

"Jonathan." Jace says trying to get his attention before he gets too angry. "It isn't Ithuriel's fault that we didn't know. If it's anyone's, it's Lilith's. She was the one who told us what was needed."

Jonathan seethes for a minute and then seems to calm down. He spins around and then faces Jace. "Seeing that there are runes that prevent us from setting him free, I say we leave him hear and test out that theory. If if works, then Clary can come back and set him free with her runes. If not, we certainly know where to find him."

Jace didn't like the way he said that they would know where to find Ithuriel but since he was right and they had no way set him free at the moment, then their best option was to test the theory. "Okay. I know just the vampire." Jace says with a smile. "Meet me outside the New York Institute." and then he turns his ring.

* * *

"Are you insane?" Raphael says loudly to the pair as they stand just outside of the Hotel Dumort. It is still the middle of the night in New York. Raphael looks around once more to make sure that no one else is listening to their conversation. "You think you can give me powers to walk in the daylight?"

"I know we can." Jace answers emphatically. "The catch is that you will never be able to tell anyone how it happened. I will require you to sign a blood oath and to do us one small favor in return for the gift."

"Why should I trust you?" Raphael asks as he turns to Jonathan. "Your father wants to wipe our kind off the face of the Earth."

"Because," Jonathan replies coldly, "I am not my father."

Jace regains his attention after seeing the way things would probably escalate if he didn't intervene and tells him, "I swear on the angel that neither one of us mean you any harm. We just need someone we know can keep a secret. Magnus has spoken of you often and about your ability to keep a secret and I trust his judgement."

Raphael seems to take in what Jace has just said. The wheels are turning rapidly in his mind as he mulls over what the two shadowhunters are offering him. The thought of being able to walk in the day is what finally gets the best of him. "Alright. I'll do it." he says and looks between the two of them.

"Then hug me." Jace says and holds out his arms.

"What?!" Raphael says with astonishment. "I don't swing that way, blondie." he says while looking Jace up and down.

Jace rolls his eyes heavily. "And neither do I. But if you want to go with us and become a daylighter, then hug me. If not, I am sure we can find someone else who would be more than willing to take us up on our offer."

Raphael mutters something under his breath in Spanish before reluctantly stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Jace. Jace then reaches around the vampire and twists the ring on his finger and they land in the library of the Morgenstern manor as light starts to shine through a hole in the curtain. Jonathan appears only a second later as Raphael scoots back against the far wall, trying to get as far away as possible from the small amount of light streaming in.

Jace hurries over to the window and pulls the heavy drapes shut and then they are engulfed in darkness. "There." Jace says as he walks away from the window and back towards his brother. "Jonathan?" Jace says and the room fills with witchlight. "Thanks man." Jace says as he smiles at him. The pair have become almost giddy as they know that they could have their girl back by the end of the day. They have waited so long for this moment.

"Now bite me." Jace says and rolls up his sleeve and holds out his arm for Raphael.

"No thanks. I'm not that hungry or that stupid." He replies with disbelief. Did they really think that he would bite the second in command of the new Clave?

"Raphael." Jace says flatly to him. "Did I not just swear on the angel that neither of us mean you harm? There is something different about my blood, I won't tell you what, but it has the ability to make you a daylighter. This is how you and us get what we want."

Raphael looks at him skeptically for a moment and studies his face for any sign of deceit. When he is satisfied that he is telling the truth, his fangs slide down and he takes Jace's arm in his hand. He slowly lowers his mouth to his skin and sinks his fangs in. Jace can feel the blood start to be pulled from his body as Raphael's eyes widen and then close. He makes an 'Mmmmm' sound and then begins to take long pulls from his arm to try and get as much blood from him as possible.

Raphael's grip tightens on Jace's arm and he winces a little at the pressure. Blood is now running down both Jace's arm and Raphael's chin. He is making sounds of pleasure as he continues to drink his blood.

"Okay." Jonathan says. "That is enough."

Raphael pays no attention and keeps his head where it is on Jace's arm. Jonathan then reaches out and grabs a handful of Raphael's hair and gets close to his face and says through gritted teeth. "I _said_ that's enough."

The vampire freezes and then pulls his fangs back into his mouth and lets go of Jace's arm. Jonathan then lets go of his hair and looks over to Jace who looks very pale as his eyes glaze over a little.

"Sit down, Jace." Jonathan says with a small bit of worry to him and guides him to a chair. "Here." he says and pulls out his stele and draws a few blood replacement runes on him. After a few minutes, Jace's color starts to return. "I feel better." Jace says and stands up. Raphael has been 'cleaning up' after feeding on Jace in a corner of the room and Jace walks over to him. "Do you feel any different?" Jace asks him.

"If you are asking if I have any sudden urges to run outside and go sun bathing...then no." Raphael says with attitude. "Although, if you ever feel the need to bitten again, I will be more than happy to oblige." Raphael tells him with a smile. "You blood _is_ different. Perhaps the most delicious blood I have ever tasted." He licks his lips and looks at the pulse in Jace's neck as Jace smiles.

"So, what you are saying is that I really _do_ taste as good as I look." he jokes with a smile.

"I don't know how Clary put up with you." Jonathan says with an exasperated tone and a roll of his eyes.

"I keep telling you," Jace says with a smile as he turns to face Jonathan, "it's because I am so beautiful. It allows me to get away with just about anything."

"God, I want to punch you right now." Jonathan tells him with a tiny smile pulling up the corners of his mouth that gives away he is more amused than anything with Jace.

"So, how long do we wait to try it out?" Jace asks as he looks at his brother.

"I don't know. An hour maybe? I don't know how long it take to work through his system or whatever it does."

"Oh joy." Raphael says sarcastically. "An hour stuck in the room with the two of you. Dreams really do come true."

"I'm going to go check on her." Jace says as he stands up. "Trade places in twenty five minutes?"

"Alright." Jonathan says as he falls onto a couch and Jace leaves the room. As he walks out of the library, he takes off his weapons belt and sets it on a hallway table and stretches. He did't really get a whole lot of sleep last night in that chair and he is a little sore around his shoulder. He walks over to the stairs and climbs them two at a time and turns left when he gets to the top. The guard at her door stands up straight when he sees Jace and tries to look like he isn't bored out of his mind.

"It's okay, Matthew." Jace tells him. "You can go home. I don't think we will be needing you for the rest of the day...or ever again." The guard, Matthew, looks confused for a second but nods his understanding and then is descending the stairs and walking out the front door.

Jace walks to Clary's door and opens it with familiarity and looks up to see his beautiful angel floating in her glass coffin (for lack of a better word) sitting on top of her bed that Lilith had made for Jonathan, whom she called her son. That's when he figured out which greater demon it was whose blood Valentine used. Her fiery red hair fans out everywhere while her arms are resting comfortably on her stomach.

Jace goes over to her with a tired smile and puts his fingers to the glass. "I have good news, baby." he coos to her. "You might get to get out of this thing today. We found Father." A smile spreads across his face as he thinks about that. "We also found Ithuriel. We can't free him but you will be able to when you wake up." He smiles and closes his eyes as he thinks about how close he is to seeing her alive again. "I can't wait to see those green eyes of yours. I have missed them so much. I still dream about them every night. There is so much that has happened and there is so much I have to tell you. I know that I have told you that Jonathan and I are like brothers now, but there is so much more to it. I am sure that you will surprise me with your reaction to what we are going to tell you because I can never predict what you are going to do."

He opens his eyes and looks at her peaceful face one more time. "God, I love you. So much." he tells her. "I know you feel the same and I can't wait for you to finally admit it." He stays quiet after that and just watches her as her hair moves around her face in the 'magic water', for lack of a better description, and counts the fading freckles on her face for the millionth time.

When Jace looks up again, he can see that his twenty five minutes is up and goes down to relieve Jonathan who is already on his way up by the time Jace gets to the bottom of the stairs. They share an excited smile and a clap on the back as they pass each other and then Jonathan is running up the stairs. He swings open the door and sees his beautiful Clary on top of her bed and goes over to sit next to her. "Hey baby." he says with a smile as he comes closer. "I've missed you."

The bed dips down with his weight as he sits on it and his fingers go to the glass. "I'm sure Jace told you but I will tell you again. You are going to get out of here today. No more living like a fish." he tells her and smiles and laughs once at his bad joke. "I can't wait to kiss those lips of yours. I can't wait till you look at me with those bottomless green eyes and run your hands down my bare chest softly." Jonathan sighs heavily and splays his hand flat on the glass. "We both can't wait for that."

He lays down on the bed and stretches out along it next to her. Her long red hair fills up a lot of the space at the head of the coffin and Jonathan likes to lay back and look up at it and see the light reflect through it. The sunlight peeks through her curtains and hits the coffin and it fills up with light making everything in it glow. He smiles at the vibrancy of her hair as it catches the sunlight through the water and hits his face. He brings his hand up and strokes the glass where it is as if can catch the colors.

He sighs heavily after a minute and then lets his hand fall away and looks up at her ceiling. "Soon, my love. Soon." he says and he waits for the hour to be up.

When he sees that time is up, he jumps up and runs downstairs. He goes into the library and finds Jace and Raphael having some sort of polite conversation. "Alright. Let's see if it works." He says as he walks over to the heavy drapes in the room. He reaches up and right before he pulls the curtains open he hears Jace say, "Whoa. Take it easy. Let's let him maybe stick a finger into the sunlight before testing it out with his whole body."

Jonathan looks back to Jace and then to Raphael and sees the vampire's nervous expression as he presses himself up against the far wall. "Right." Jonathan concedes and looks back over to Raphael. "Come over here and stick you hand in the light."

"That's easy for you to say." he replies dryly. "You have never been set on fire by the sun before."

"Quit being such a coward and come over here and do it." Jonathan says impatiently.

The vampire stands up straight and narrows his eyes at the Morgenstern as he says, "Raphael Santiago is anything but a coward."

"Then go over there and stick your hand in the light." Jace says, growing impatient as well.

Raphael mutters something in Spanish and then is walking over to where Jonathan is at the window with Jace following closely behind him. When he gets there, Jonathan opens the drapes just a little and lets a small bit of bright morning light come shining through. Jace looks up at Raphael who is barely able to conceal the emotion he is feeling. He can see that he is nervous and excited while trying not to get his hopes up. He can only imagine what it must be like to go a hundred years without ever seeing the daylight and being able to feel the warmth of the sun on your skin.

Raphael brings his hand up and starts to slowly move it towards the ray of light. After a few seconds, the tips of his fingers are brushing the sunlight as he hesitates for a second and then hurriedly shoves his hand into the light as he squeezes his eyes shut tight and winces in anticipation of the burn he was sure to come.

Two, then three, then four seconds pass before he opens his eyes in surprise and looks down at his hand in disbelief. He flips it over and inspects it closely as a smile starts to spread across his face. He brings his other hand up and sticks it in the ray of sun along with the other one and then is smiling widely. "Funciono." (it worked) he whispers to himself. He touches the sunlight on his skin and then is moving to the drapes and pulls them all of the way open.

The sunlight hits him and he squints his eyes at the brightness of it as his whole body is bathed in daylight. "!Funciono!" he shouts loudly as a wild excited laughter rolls out of his mouth. He reaches up to unlock the window, probably so he can go outside, and Jonathan grabs him before he can open it.

"We held up our end of the bargain and now it's time for you to hold up yours." Jonathan says tightly to him.

"Anything, my friend!" Raphael says with a bright smile. It seems that nothing can dampen his mood now.

"Follow me." Jace says with a smile and a wave of his hand. He turns and hears the other two start to follow him out of the room and then Jonathan is beside him. "Jace." he says excitedly. "It's happening!"

"I know, brother." Jace says back to him with a wide smile. "We have waited too long."

"That we have." Jonathan says in agreement and then they are taking the steps three at a time as they run up to her room. When they get to the door, they both turn and face Raphael before opening it. "We have someone else we want you to bite."

Raphael furrows his brows in shock and confusion and says, "Why?"

"Because now you are a daylighter and you have the ability to bring back the dead." Jonathan tells him with a wicked smile.

"I can bring back the dead?" Raphael says with his voice thick with shock.

"Yes." Jace says as he grabs the doorknob. "And we have someone we want you to bring back." He opens the door and him and Jonathan step in. Raphael follows behind them and when his eyes land on the sight of Clary suspended in the glass coffin, his eyes widen with surprise as he says, "Bella Durmiente." (sleeping beauty) on a whisper of shocked breath.

* * *

 **One more chapter!**

 **I would love for ya'll to tell me what your name would be if you combined the first three letters of your significant other's first name and the last three of your first name. I saw this question on my fb and died laughing at some of the answers. Mine would be Micrea...which sounds like some sort of bacteria or a disease that is spread by mosquitoes and fleas. Lol!**

 **As always, thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry this last chapter took me so long! But here it is now and it is really long so I hope that makes up for it just a little.**

 ** _Claphael_ \- I died laughing when I read the last line of your last review. (burn in hell Clace) Died. Laughing. **

* * *

"Sleeping Beauty." Raphael whispers.

"Yes. She is." Jonathan says back.

"Jonathan?" Jace asks his brother. "Help me remove the top?"

Jonathan gives him a nod of his head and then Jace moves to one side of the bed while Jonathan moves to the far side. They reach the coffin and slide the heavy lid off towards Jonathan and he sets it down on the floor next to the bed. "Raphael. This is Clary." Jonathan says with a bright smile.

"I know who she is." he says as he walks closer to the bed. "She died over three months ago...or so I heard."

"She did," Jace says back to him, "but we found a way to bring her back. With you. A daylighter."

"How do you know it will work?" Raphael asks them sounding genuinely curious. "Although her body is perfectly preserved and she looks like she is only sleeping, she has been dead for some time now. How do you know that what I am supposed to bring back will be the same girl?"

"I was told by someone very, very old that she had seen it done before." Jonathan answers. "That same someone put her in the coffin here and preserved her so it is like she has only been dead for a few minutes; not months."

Raphael looks down as he comes closer and sees that there is still a faint pink flush in her cheeks. Nothing like when he drains someone and they die. He has seen many dead bodies and she certainly doesn't look like one of those. "So what now?" he asks looking up at Jace. "Do I just bite her?"

"First, your bite will wake her enough for the next part." Jonathan says answering him.

"And then what?" Raphael asks.

"And then you will feed her your blood." Jace says to him. "And if everything goes as planned, she will wake up."

The vampire looks back down to her unsurely and then steps forward. "And..." Jonathan says as he steps closer to him, "she might taste like Jace, so...control yourself." and he levels his eyes at him threateningly. Raphael gives him a nod of understanding and then Jonathan reaches down into the water and grabs her hand. He lifts it out of the water and hands it over to the vampire whose fangs are already out. He takes her by the wrist and climbs a little on the bed and leans over the coffin as he pulls her arm out a little more. His head slowly dips down and his lips touch the skin at her wrist as his fangs slide into her.

The moment he takes a pull of her blood, he makes the same 'mmmm' sound that he made when he drank Jace's blood downstairs. His eyes close as he savors the taste of her. "Jace. Do you hear that?" Jonathan asks excitedly after a minute.

Jace strains his ears for a moment and then he hears it. Clary's heartbeat. "Her heart." he says with a smile starting to pull on his lips. "It's trying to start again." There is a little thump-thump and then another weak thump. It is unsteady and slow, but it's there. Raphael keeps going for another minute before he pulls back and says, "I can feel her heart pumping her blood now. It's slow, but it is definitely there." He wipes his mouth of the blood that is trickling down his chin and then looks up as Jace hands him a knife.

"Now give her your blood." Jace says and wiggles the knife a little in an effort for him to take it. Raphael reaches out and takes the blade and cuts the palm of his hand under his thumb. His blood wells up to the surface and then Jace and Jonathan are watching with hopefulness and excitement in their eyes as he lowers his bleeding hand to her lips.

His blood drips onto her lips and then Raphael is pushing his hand into her mouth. He squeezes his hand a few times to get the blood flowing and then Clary's heart beat picks up. The irregular thumping off her heart settles itself into a steady rhythm and becomes stronger with each passing second. "Do you hear that?" Jace says excitedly and looks up to Jonathan with a bright smile.

Another ten seconds pass and the Clary's eyes begin to flutter. Raphael gives his palm another hard squeeze and then pulls his hand back. Jace and Jonathan both jump onto the bed on either side of the water and Jonathan reaches down and pulls the top half of her body out of the water. "Clary!" he almost shouts. Jace reaches down and takes her hand as they both stare at her face and wait for another sign of life.

"Please, baby." Jace says quietly and mostly to himself. "We're here. Jonathan and I are here." he says again and then pulls her hand to his lips and gives it a kiss.

Jonathan is now cradling her into his chest and is pushing her wet hair out of her face. "Clary, baby. Please wake up." he murmurs to her. Her eyelids flutter again and then they crack open just a little. "Oh Dios mio." Raphael whispers in disbelief. "Funciono."

"Clary!" Jonathan says loudly with a blinding smile. Her eyes close and then open a little bit further and then her lips are moving as she tries to say something. "Shhhh, baby. You don't have to say anything." Jonathan coos at her.

Her lips weakly turn up into a small smile and then Jace is reaching into his pocket as her eyes fall closed again. He brings a stele to her arm and then is drawing iratze after iratze on her arm and neck. The effect is almost instantaneous. They sink in her skin and start to absorb slowly and color starts to flood her beautiful face. By the time that Jace tosses down his stele and takes her hand again, her eyes have opened and she looks more like herself as she looks up at Jonathan. "Oh baby." Jonathan says with such relief in his voice and he pulls her lips to his. She returns the kiss gently and then pulls back to look at Jace sheepishly. "So I guess you know who my boyfriend is now." she says hoarsely and Jace smiles the biggest smile he has ever smiled as he tosses his head back with laughter that Jonathan joins in on.

When his laughing slows, Jace looks back down at Clary and says, "God, I missed you _so_ much." and then he reaches over and brings his face to hers and presses his lips against hers. She freezes as his lips press gently against hers for a moment and then he pulls back. Her eyes nervously dart up to Jonathan's face from where she is in is his arms, waiting for him to beat Jace to death. Instead, the look she sees on his face is one of fondness. He is smiling over her at Jace and then is looking back down at her.

Her brows start to furrow with confusion in that adorable way that Jace loves as she looks between the two of them. "Did I miss something?" she says as she looks between to the two of them.

* * *

 **-Clary**

'What the hell was that?' I think to myself as I look between them. Jace just kissed me and Jonathan smiled at him. He _smiled_ at him. "Did I miss something?" I ask and then I feel Jonathan's body start to shake with laughter as he holds me upright while...I'm in water? "And why am I in a bathtub on my bed fully clothed?" I ask as I look down at my drenched clothes.

Jonathan then turns my face to him again as he smiles and kisses me desperately again. When he pulls back he says, "You've only missed the worst three and a half months of our lives." he says as he glances at Jace and then back down at me.

"What do you mean 'three and a half months'?" I ask them. I turn my head and feel my face pull together as I try to remember the last thing that happened. "We were at the Accords Hall...and we were standing on the dais..." I trail off as things begin to get cloudy. "I don't really remember anything after that." When I look up, I see that both of their faces have paled considerably as they share a knowing look between the two of them. "What is going on?" I ask.

"Do you think she would want to remember?" Jace asks Jonathan seriously. My eyes then look over to Jonathan as he says, "Knowing her...then yes. She would. She doesn't like it when things are kept from her."

"Would the two of you stop talking about me like I am not here?" I say as I start to become annoyed. I see Jace then reach down onto the bed and see him pick up a stele and hand it to Jonathan. "Can you sit up by yourself?" Jonathan asks me.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be able to?" I say slightly offended. I am not a baby. "Just get me out of this water."

Jace stands up then and holds out his hand for me. I hesitantly take it after a nervous glance at Jonathan. I still don't know why he didn't at least break his nose for kissing me. Jace pulls me up and helps me as my legs feel a little weak. They start to shake a little and I falter as Jonathan's hands grip my waist from behind. "Take it easy, babe." Jonathan says in a chastising tone. Jace then reaches up and lifts me out of the water by my waist as Jonathan moves his hands and then he is lowering me down to sit on the side of my bed. "Thanks." I say to Jace as Jonathan appears with a towel and hands it to me. I wrap it around my shoulders as Jonathan drops to his knees in front of me and Jace sits down beside me.

Jonathan takes my hand and starts to bring the stele to it when I see someone shut the door as they leave. "Who was that?" I ask worriedly.

"Just someone who did us a favor, darling." Jace says and I am seriously starting to worry for his safety because he just called me darling. I look back down to Jonathan who doesn't seem the least bit phased by what he just said and he starts to draw my remember rune. I close my eyes and then scenes from the Accords Hall fill my vision. Jonathan and Jace are on either side of me fighting beautifully as some people start to surge forward towards me. I smile at them as I bring my sword up and ready myself for a fight.

That's when I hear a very short scuffle come from behind me as my mother yells my name and then...

I suck in a startled breath as the memory of the pain from my father's sword pushing into my back fills the forefront of my mind. Then I remember Jonathan holding me and Jace being at my other side and I feel myself slipping away and then...darkness. My eyes fly open and meet with Jonathan's serious ones and then I know. "Did I die?" I ask him.

His hand comes up and caresses my face for a moment before he answers. "You have been dead for three and a half months." he says with pain laced into every syllable.

"But...how?" I ask as I look at his face. "How am I alive now?"

"Because Jace and I refused to let you stay dead." he says as he brings his other hand up to hold my face in between his hands. "We found a way to stave off death for you and searched for months for what we needed to bring you back." His sad face then melts away a little as he smiles gently at me. "And now here you are." Jonathan says sounding relieved.

"So I have been in that water for that whole time?" I ask and point to over my shoulder.

"You have." he replies and then pulls my lips to his again. I bring my hands up and place them on either side of his neck as he kisses me. His tongue licks my bottom lip and I open my mouth and his tongue slips in. We kiss for a little while and then he finally pulls back. "I have missed you so much." he says desperately. "You have no idea. If I didn't have Jace...I would have become the monster that Father always wanted me to be."

I turn my head and look at Jace next to me who is smiling warmly as he looks back at me. I can see his love for me in his eyes and my heart does a little flip with the intensity of his gaze. His hand comes up as Jonathan's drops from my face and then Jace's hand is on my cheek. The next thing I know he is leaning in and his lips are pressing softly against mine. I feel a little uncomfortable for a moment because Jonathan is still right in front of me with his hands now resting on top of my legs, but then my heart starts to pick up speed.

Jonathan is apparently okay with this for some reason. I pull back just a little and look to Jace in confusion and then hear Jonathan say, "It's okay, Clary. I'll allow it. He is my brother and he loves you too." I look back over at him as he talks while Jace's hand is still on my cheek. "We have had countless talks while you were sleeping. He is my brother now and I don't mind sharing what is mine with my brother. I know that I was angry and jealous the last time we talked but...things are different now. I was afraid that you were going to leave me for him. I thought that you would love him more than me."

"That's crazy Jonathan." I say emphatically yet softly to him and he smiles. "I know that now." Jonathan replies. "Jace told me how you told him how much you loved me (your boyfriend) and that you would never love anyone else as much as you loved me. That no matter how hard he tried, that you would never betray me. He said that I was always going to be number one in your heart and there was nothing he or anybody else could do about that."

"He was right." I say as I touch his face with my hand and he smiles widely at me.

"But Jace loves you too." he says as he looks to him. "And he is my brother and I want to give him what he wants too. He never left my side the whole time you were sleeping. We're brothers now."

Jace's hand then gently turns my head back to look at him as he caresses my cheek and Jonathan rubs his thumbs on my thighs. "I love you Clary." Jace says fervently. "More than I thought I ever could love someone. And I know that you love me too." He pauses for a second to see if I am going to protest but I stay quiet. "I know that you refused to feel it because you are in love with Jonathan and were being loyal to him...but it's okay now. You can let me in. Allow yourself to feel what you so stubbornly refuse to." and then he is closing the small distance between our lips.

His warm and soft lips touch mine and I close my eyes. I relax as one of my hands grabs hold of Jonathan's in my lap. One of Jace's hands is cupping my jaw below my ear as the other one comes up and softly pushes my wet hair back and then ghosts down to my neck. His finger tips dip into the hairline at the back of my neck as his lips apply more pressure. I can feel the emotions pouring from his every touch and a little bit of my walls come down. He pulls back slightly and I feel his lips brush against mine as he says, "I love you Clary." and my heart does that weird flip again.

His lips come back to mine and this time, I lean into him a little. His tongue comes out and touches my lips and then I am opening my mouth for him. I squeeze Jonathan's hand as Jace's tongue pushes into my mouth and then I am overwhelmed with emotion and my walls come crumbling down.

The hand that isn't holding Jonathan's hand comes up and cups his face for a moment as our tongues slide together and then it slips around the the back of his neck and then I am pulling him into me. He moans a little and then I have lost all control. I love him. I am in love with Jace. I don't know how or when it happened but I do. I really love him. I have been so stubborn and stupid and...

He pulls back and I open my eyes in shock as he smiles the most brilliant smile at me. "I told you you loved me." he says and then I pull him back to me. I think back to all of the time we spent together and think about how stubborn I was. I completely fell in love with him but absolutely refused to admit it to myself. I see it now though. I make a little sigh of contentment as I kiss him for a little while longer and then pull back as I look into his eyes. "I had no idea." I say to him and Jonathan chuckles a little.

"I suspected it." He says and I turn to look at him. "But how?" I ask him.

"It was the way you looked at him. I knew you saw him as a friend but your eyes have always been able to give away what you are really feeling deep down."

"But...I love _you_ , Jonathan." I say to him as I bring my hand that was on Jace's face to his.

"I know." he says as he smiles at me and then he leans in and kisses me long and hard. His lips are urgent on mine and filled with passion and when he pulls back, I am panting a little.

"This is so crazy." I say in disbelief as I look between the two of them and they both laugh. "What the hell happened while I was asleep?"

"We became brothers." Jonathan says simply with a tiny shrug of his shoulders. "I can see that." I remark as I look from Jonathan to Jace's smiling face. "I feel like only a few seconds has passed when in reality, I missed so much." My voice turns a little sad as I think about everything.

"I know," Jace says and I turn to look at him, "but I am now a firm believer in the saying that everything happens for a reason. I mean," he says as he looks at Jonathan, "the absolute worst day of my life was the day you died. But without that day, I wouldn't have gained Jonathan as a brother and that is something that I would never want to take back."

A huge smile then spreads across my face as I look at them. I turn my eyes to Jonathan and he looks at me. "I told you that I thought you two could be great friends." I say and then he tosses his head back and laughs as Jace groans and sticks his hand in his pocket. "Dammit, Clary." Jace says with a defeated smile, "you just cost me twenty bucks." and he hands Jonathan a rolled up bill.

"I bet Jace twenty bucks that you would say 'I told you so' about us being friends because you were so adamant about us getting to know each other." Jonathan says as he tucks the money in his pocket.

I am in utter shock at what I am witnessing. I mean...look at them. They look so comfortable with each other and then there is Jonathan saying that he will share me. _What the fuck?!_ I never thought in a million years that he would be able to overcome his jealousy in such an extreme way as to share me with someone else. I have never been against 'non-traditional' relationships and here I am...finding myself thrust into one and never in a million years thinking it would happen.

I briefly think about just denying Jace and telling him that I just want to be with Jonathan. The only thing is, when I think about doing that, my heart gives such a tight squeeze, it feels like it is going to explode. It hurts to think about not being with him when I just discovered that I am in love with him. And then there is Jonathan. There was never any way that I _wasn't_ going to be with him so that solution is instantly off the table.

"Are you sure about this?" I ask Jonathan sincerely and look to Jace to show him what I mean before I look back to him.

"I'm sure." he says as he glances at Jace and then back at me. "We have talked at great length about this." I raise my eyebrows in surprise and he continues. "I will get to have the first child with you. That was non-negotiable. And I will be the one who marries you as well."

"Is that you asking me to marry you?" I ask him in surprise.

He smiles up at me. "I want to marry you more than anything but I want to propose to you in a different way."

I understand what he is saying and I nod at him as I lean in and kiss his lips once more. When I pull back, Jace touches my face and I turn and smile warmly at him. "I love you." I whisper to him and he gives me a blinding smile. "I love you too." he says and then pulls me in for a long kiss. He strokes my cheek for a moment and then he stands up. "I think you need a shower, love." he says down to me and I look down at myself.

"I really do, don't I?" I say with a small chuckle.

"How do you feel?" Jonathan asks seriously. "Do you feel okay to stand?"

"I could use an energy rune but other than that, I feel fine." Before I know it, Jace is putting an energy rune on my arm as he takes my hand. When he is done, he kisses my hand and then lets it go and I feel a wave of energy flood me. "I'll let Jonathan help you with the shower, babe." Jace says with a smile as he leans into me. He kisses me for a minute and the pulls back and tells me he loves me and then looks to Jonathan. "Have fun." he tells him with a smirk and then Jace leaves the room.

When I look back to Jonathan, I don't see one glint of jealousy in him which is so incredibly different from the last time I saw him. "He's good for you." I say as I reach out and touch his face.

"Just like you are for me." he replies as he picks me up in his arms bridal style. I let out a small giggle and he carries me over to my bathroom and sets me down. He goes to the shower and turns the water on and then comes back to me. I turn my head up to him as he dips his down to mine and then we are kissing. His hands go to the bottom of my soaking wet shirt and he slowly starts to pull it up and over my head. When that is gone, I reach down and unbutton my pants and feel his hands trail down my sides and then to the waist band of my pants. His hands slip under them and then he is slowly pushing them down as he crouches down as our lips stay connected.

When they get below my knees, I step out of them as Jonathan's hand goes around my back and finds the clasp of my bra. He pops it open with expertise and pulls it down off of me. His lips finally leave mine as he looks down at my chest and says, "I have missed them so much." and then starts to palm them. I let out a little breathy laugh as I reach out and tug on his shirt to let him know that I want him to be naked too.

His hands fly lightning fast to his clothes and before I can blink twice, he is naked and his dick is at full attention. I reach out and grab him as he starts to palm my breasts again and he lets out a low and throaty groan. I smile at his reaction before I let him go and pull down my underwear.

Steam has started to rise from the shower then and I grab his hand and pull him to it. We step into it and he shuts the clear glass door behind him as I step into the hot water. It feels amazing running down my bare skin and I close my eyes as I step all of the way under the stream of water. I hear my body wash pop open and Jonathan rub his hands together before I feel them on me. He pulls me out of the water and runs his hands slowly all over my body, washing every part of me deliberately. I just keep my eyes closed the whole time and just bask in the feel of his hands and the comfortable silence between us.

He washes me off when he is done and then grabs my shampoo and washes my hair for me. He turns me around and puts my back against his chest as his fingers rub my scalp and I sigh with utter contentment. He rinses my hair out and then puts the shower head back up on the wall. The next thing I feel are his lips on the base of my neck as he places a soft kiss there and whispers, "I missed you _so fucking much_."

I slowly spin around and bring my hand up to his chest as his come to around my waist and pull me too him. "Jonathan," I say to him. "You have no idea how much I love you." I tell him with pure sincerity. "You...you are my everything. My brother, my lover, my other half, my first love...hell...my first everything. I wish you knew how much love I feel for you every time I look at you. You amaze me so much everyday. You really do."

He dips his head down and kisses me before he says, "I love you, Clary. I don't ever want to be parted from you again."

"Then don't be." I say lowly to him and then everything explodes. His mouth finds mine with force as I open mine for him. Our tongues press against each others as his hands start to slide all over my body. His hands travel down to my hips and he pulls me flush with his body. His erection pokes me in my stomach and my hand goes down to it. I wrap my hand around it and he groans in relief. "I missed your touch." he whispers to me when he pulls back for a second.

My other hand goes up to the back of his neck as I pull him to my mouth again. He bends his knees to crouch down and then his hands are on the back of my upper thighs as he lifts me up and pushes me against the wall of the shower. The water is beating down in between us as he pulls his face back and then moves his lips to my neck. My hands then move up to his hair and I grab fistfuls of it as I sigh and lean by head back for him to kiss more of me.

Our bodies are pressed tightly against each other as I arch my back and he dips his head to my breasts. There is barely enough room between us for him to take one of my nipples into his mouth but he manages to do it. I let out a breathy moan as his tongue flicks it and he lowers me by just a couple of inches and then he is pressed up against my entrance. I shift my hips to line up with him and then he is very slowly lowering me down onto him.

Once he is all of the way in, my body shudders with pleasure as he lets out a low moan. Nothing is said between us as his hips pull back and then push back into me. His pace is slow and purposeful. It feels like he is trying to savor the moment and the feel of me on him. "I love you, Jonathan." I say lowly to him. "Forever."

"I love you Clarissa." He whispers back and then kisses me with a little bit of force as he thrusts into me a little harder. I let out a surprised moan and his mouth comes back to mine. I wrap my arms tightly around his neck and hold myself up a little as he starts to move faster and harder. My breathing starts to get quicker and more ragged as I feel him move in and out of me over and over again. He is slowly building me up to my high and it feels incredible.

The way he is making love to me right now lets me know just how much he missed me. He is being deliberate and forceful at the same time. It's as if he is trying to show me how much he loves me. Show me that his heart broke when I was 'gone' and how he can't live without me. He is telling me this with his body because expressing his feelings has never been easy for him.

I let out a soft moan when he shifts a little and clench my fingers on his shoulders, leaving little tiny crescent marks from my nails there. I am holding onto him tightly and my mouth is by his ear as I cling to him. I start to breathe more erratic as the pleasure builds more and more with each punctuation of his hips. Moans start to escapes my lips as I scrunch my eyes tightly together and I give completely into the pleasure he is giving me.

I bring my mouth down onto his shoulder and bite him softly as I try to find an outlet for my physical bliss. He grunts when I do this and the sound sets my loins on fire. I throw my head back as I feel myself building higher and higher until it hits. I scream out as an intense and slow orgasm centers in my belly and rolls out to every other part of my body. My toes curl and my fists clench as my legs hold him tighter to me and then he is grunting his release. I feel his body shake with the waves of his orgasm that moves in time with the twitching of his dick inside of me.

He starts to slow after a while and then as he completely stills himself, he pulls back and looks at me for a moment before claiming lips for a slow and passionate kiss. He pulls back and kisses me a few more times and then is lifting me off of him and setting me down. My legs are a little weak and I lean on Jonathan for a moment until I am able to stand steadily by myself. "I really missed you so incredibly much." he whispers as he takes my face in between his large hands.

"I can tell." I say back to him and reach up to give him a small kiss. "I would have missed you too but it only feels like it has been a few hours since the last time I saw you. I feel like I got of easy."

"Clary." He says seriously as he makes heavy eye contact. "You died. I think I am the one who got off easy. You had a sword slide through your stomach."

The memory of how that felt comes back and I wince a little at it. I never thought my father could kill me. As horrible of a person he was, I never thought he would kill me. "Hey, hey." Jonathan says soothingly as my face falls considerably. "We caught him and we are going to make him pay for what he did to you." I lean into Jonathan and rest my head on his chest as I wrap my hands around his waist. His arms wrap around the top of my back as he dips his head and kisses me on the top of my head. He holds me for a few minutes before I pull back and look up at him. "Thank you for not giving up on me." I say to him.

"I would never give up on you." He says back to me and kisses me once more before reaching behind me and turning the water off. He pulls a towel down from where it is slung over the shower door and wraps me in it. I step out and dry off as he does the same. We share a few kisses and smiles at each other here and there while we put some clothes on. Jonathan reminds me to dress warmly because it's January now and I pull on a thin knitted sweater that goes to my mid-thigh over some leggings and then dry my hair as he stands in the door of the bathroom, leaning against the frame, and just watches me.

When I am done, I look over to him and smile. "I still can't believe you are up and walking around." he says with disbelief as I set down my hair dryer. "Well, believe it." I say as I step into him and kiss his soft lips once more before he pulls away. "I have a few things to take care of now that you are back." he tells me and I look questioningly at him.

"Like what?" I say in a little bit of a whine as I pout. I don't want him to go anywhere.

He chuckles a little as he bends down and gives me a quick peck on my lips. "Clave business." he simply states. I open my mouth to ask him a the million questions that that one statement brings up and he puts a finger over my lips to stop me. "We can talk about all of that later." Jonathan says as he grabs his jacket off of the bed. "I will be gone for an hour; two tops. You should go find Jace. He is usually in his room."

Him telling me that is still a shock to the system and I shake my head a little in disbelief. "Have I told you that I love you?" I ask him and he gives me an eye crinkling smile. "A few times." he replies before he kisses me ferociously for a minute, taking my breath away, and then pulls back as I try to catch my breath and try to control the desire that he stirred up inside of me again.

He smiles at the look on my face and then tells me he loves me and then walks out of my room. I stand there for a few minutes as I try to process the _wild_ left turn my life has just taken. Jonathan has changed so incredibly much in the time I was sleeping. The Jonathan that I am familiar with would have killed Jace for kissing me and now he is practically encouraging me to go and have sex with him. Is it possible that he has now expanded his love to include Jace? They said that they were brothers now and that Jonathan wanted Jace to be happy and what makes him happy is me. I also can't find it in me to be mad that they already decided to 'share' me. Now that I admitted that I am in love with Jace as well as Jonathan, I want to be with both of them. It may be incredibly selfish of me but...I just can't be without either of them.

That is when my feet start to carry me towards my door. I open it and turn down the hall that leads to the back stairwell and then I am running. I run all of the way up the stairs and to Jace's door. I stop suddenly when I reach it, unsure of what to do. Do I just walk in or do I knock? Do I knock and then walk in without waiting for him to answer? I decide to go the road of caution and raise my hand up and nervously knock on his door. I smooth my hair down and run my fingers through it to make sure I am presentable and then he opens the door.

His hair is damp and there is a towel that is hanging low around his waist. The sight of him actually takes my breath away. He is just so beautiful. His perfectly chiseled chest and washboard abs that give way to his v-line. He allows my eyes to roam his body and when they finally come back up to his face, he gives me the most beautiful and loving smile and then I attack him.

I lunge at him and my mouth connects with his with almost bruising force. My hands go to hold his face and he shuts the door as he pulls me into his room. He lets out this sort of growl in the back of his throat and it sends goosebumps spreading across my skin like wildfire.

I pull back as I hold his face tightly and his strong arms wrap around me. "I love you, Jace. I love you. I love you. I love you." I say lowly to him with as much feeling in those words as I can put into them. "I love you so much too, Clary." he whispers back fervently. "God, I love you." and then his lips are on mine again. I open my mouth and let him in and that is when I realize that the night that he attacked me at the New York Institute to convince my mom that we were real... he was holding himself back. Holding back a lot.

He reaches down and grabs me by the ass and lifts me up. I wrap my legs around him as he starts to walk over to his bed. When we get there, my hands are tangled in his golden blonde hair and his fingers are digging into the meaty part of my ass. He starts to bend over and I feel the bed touch my back. I let go of him and pull away and scoot to the middle of it while looking seductively at him through hooded eyes. The way he is looking back at me as he starts to climb on the bed makes my heart thump unevenly. He is looking at me like I am his world. Like he is absolutely in love with me.

He comes and hovers his body over mine as he places himself in between my legs and my hands come up to touch his chest. He turns his head to the side and kisses my wrist then moves up my arm and all the way to my shoulder laying kisses the whole way up. I close my eyes and lean my head back and he kisses just under my ear as he whispers "You are so beautiful."

A smile creeps across my face as I turn my head and capture his lips with mine. This kiss is slow and passion filled and deep. We take our time exploring each other's mouths as my hands roam his perfect body. He pulls back after a couple of minutes and rests his forehead on mine as he closes his eyes and looks like he is deep in thought.

"Is something wrong, babe?" I ask him softly.

One side of his lips turns up into a half smile as he says, "You called me babe."

"Is that not okay?" I ask worriedly.

"No. It's perfect." he says as he looks up and into my eyes. "I just thought that I would never hear you say those words to me. I wan't completely sure that you were in love with me. Part of me was still really insecure and was scared shitless that you didn't feel the same way." His hand comes up and I can see that it is shaking a little. "And now, here you are, calling me babe while we make out on my bed."

I lift up and place a small kiss on his lips and then rest my head back down on the bed as I run my fingers through his hair. "That's because I am the most stubborn person I know." I say to him with a smile. "The first time you kissed me in the hotel room, I did feel something." His eyes light up at hearing this. "But I immediately pushed it away and buried it. I didn't want to admit that I was falling in love with you because it would kill me to have to choose between you and Jonathan. And now, I wake up from being dead and the two of you have solved that problem. It allowed me to finally admit what I refused to."

His hand comes up and smooths across my face as his eyes look down at me with utter love and devotion. "I am the luckiest man in the world to have your love."

"No. I really am the lucky one. I have the love of the two most amazing men in the world." I tell him fervently. "I love you Jace Herondale."

"And I love you Clary Morgenstern." he whispers quietly as his lips come back to mine. He kisses me slow and purposefully and I can feel the love he has for me in it. It is overwhelming and a tear rolls out of my eye at the suddenness of him into my heart.

As we are kissing, his hand moves down to the bottom of my thin sweater and it slips under it. His calloused fingertips brush against my stomach as they slide on my skin and my hands move to his shoulders. He pulls away from my mouth and starts to kiss down my jaw and then to my collar bone. I reach down to the bottom of my sweater and lift up a little and pull it over my head and I am left in just my bra. His eyes move down to my chest and the gold in them darken with desire as he looks at my plain white bra.

I pull him back down to my lips and then arch my back up and into him as I guide his hand to around my back. His shaky fingers find the clasp of my bra and he pops it. His hand comes back around and slides slowly under the bottom of it and he grazes the bottom of my breast. I let out a long sigh into his mouth and his hand slides up a little more and then his fingers are grazing my nipple. He slides his fingers over it, teasing me, and my fingers clench into the skin of his shoulder. He lets out a lustful grunt and then his hand fully cups my breast in his palm. I reach across my body and pull the bra down and off of my arms and expose my chest to him.

His eyes move down and to my breasts and then he whispers, "So beautiful." before his lips are kissing their way down. His mouth comes to rest over my right nipple and then I feel his tongue sliding across my peak. I close my eyes and get lost to the sensation of his mouth as it moves from one breast to the other. My fingers tighten in his hair when he captures one nipple in between his teeth and gives it a tiny bite.

"Please, Jace." I say breathlessly to him. "Make love to me." His head turns up and his eyes meet with mine and in that moment, I can see into his soul. I can see the incredible amount of love that he has for me and my breath catches a little. He comes up and kisses me passionately and slowly at the same time for a moment and then his hands go down to my leggings and he starts to pull them off. I lift up my butt a little and he slides them down and over it. The thong that I put on is still in place when his hands slide back up my legs and tucks his fingers into the waistband of them. As he pulls them down, he trails kisses after them until they reach my feet and he pulls them all the way off.

He stands up on the floor at the foot of his bed and looks back up to my naked body as I open my legs for him and slide my hands up my thighs. "You are so incredibly beautiful, baby." He says to me. I sit up and scoot to where he is standing and reach out to the towel that is still wrapped around his waist. I can see his erection lifting it away from his body and I want to be able to see it with my own eyes. I pull on the fabric that is tucked in and it falls to the ground and reveals him to me.

I instantly bite my lip with lust as I see that he is very similar in size to Jonathan; only about an inch longer than him. I can help it when my hand comes up and I grab him. He lets out a sigh as his eyes close as my fingers try to wrap around him all of the way and fail. "Please, baby." I whisper again and he looks down at me. His hand comes up and he cups my face as I start to slide back onto the bed. He crawls up after me and lays down in between my legs again and I feel 'him' grazing my entrance. His hand goes down and lines up with me and I roll my hips into him, tired of waiting.

His eyes lock with mine as he slowly pushes into me and we both moan with pleasure as his pelvis comes into contact with mine. He brings his lips to mine again as he starts to thrust in and out of me and I am absolutely in love with him. I honestly don't know how I denied it for so long after feeling this feeling that is flowing in between the both of us now. He is being so gentle and what is happening right now can only be described as making love. Our bodies are moving against each others as he kisses me and thrusts into me.

After a long while like this, he lifts up a little and his thrusts become more forceful and more pointed. My toes curl and I let out a loud moan as he finds my spot and then he is building me up. Thrust after thrust after thrust until I am screaming out his name as he makes me unravel. His eyes never leave my face as I cum and this seems to help him to get to his peak. When I am done, he pounds into me faster and harder for a moment before he grunts out his release deep inside of me and falls onto my chest. He breathes heavily for a moment, as do I, and then presses his lips against mine as he brushes my hair out of my face.

"That was so amazing and beautiful, Jace." I tell him earnestly. "I've never experienced anything like that."

"What about with Jonathan?" he asks unsurely.

"He has made love to me but not the way you just did." I tell him. "He has his own way, but you...you are able to show me your whole heart. Jonathan shows me his, but it's just different."

"I think I understand." Jace says as he gives me a peck on my lips. "I have known him long enough now to know what you mean."

"I really am the lucky one." I tell him. "To be able to have you both. Be allowed to love you both...I never thought that I would be able to."

"Well you will never have to choose." he tells me fervently and then gives me a passion filled kiss.

After we get dressed, we walk downstairs holding hands and look for Jonathan. "He will probably be in his office." Jace tells me as we reach the bottom of the stairs. We go to the left and I push the doors open to see Jonathan sitting at Father's old desk and he is surrounded by papers. He looks up at us and smiles widely at me. I let go of Jace's hand and run over to him as he pushes his chair away from the desk and I jump in his lap. I turn my head into him and give him a long and hot and heavy kiss. When I pull back, we both are a little breathless.

"Well hello to you too." Jonathan says with little bit of amusement and a smile.

"Did I tell you that I love you?" I ask him and he lets out a small laugh. "I believe you have said it before." he replies and wraps his arms around me. He turns the chair a little and I am able to look over at Jace who is smiling warmly at us. "Come 'mere." I tell him and he walks closer. He bends down and kisses me on my forehead and I take his hand in mine.

"I've got a present for you." Jonathan says as I turn back to him.

"You do?" I ask sounding a little surprised.

"Mmm hmmm." he says as he starts to stand up. I stand up with him and he takes my other hand and starts to pull me out of the room. Jace, who is holding my other hand, is pulled along too and then we are all leaving the library. I want to ask where we are going but I keep my mouth shut as we turn down the hall that leads to the cellar and the training room. When we pass the training room and he starts to pull me down into the cellar, I start to get more confused. When we reach the bottom, I let go of both of their hands as Jonathan starts to head for the last cellar. Before he can get there though, he holds up his hand for me to wait as he motions for me to be quiet and for Jace to join him. Jace gives me a quick peck and then is joining a smiling Jonathan as they walk closer to it. From my angle, I can't see who is in it and I scoot closer to the wall to hide some more. He obviously doesn't want me to be seen yet for some reason.

"Father." Jonathan says in a happy tone and I suddenly freeze. The last time I saw my father was when he called me a traitorous whore and ran a sword through me. "Oh, father." Jonathan says with a lilt to his voice as he comes to a stop in front of the cell. I hear feet shuffle and then Jace and Jonathan are smiling widely as I hear my father say, "Did you come to gloat?"

"Maybe a little." Jace says with an amused smile.

"Why don't you just get this over with." Father says sounding annoyed. "You gloat and tell me how I was never going to get away and then you torture me. Either way, I will never regret killing you sister. I was just correcting a mistake from when I found her when she was five." Father was obviously expecting Jonathan and Jace to lose their cool and completely fly off the handle but him and Jace just smile instead.

"You know father," Jonathan says thoughtfully as he brings his hand up to his face and touches his chin like he is in thought, "do you remember the day I came down to breakfast and I was in a superb mood? Clary asked me why I was so happy. Do you remember what I said?" Father remains silent as I am sure he is fuming from not getting the rise out of Jonathan that he wanted. "I said that I realized that I could get everything I ever wanted but that I just had to be patient. Do you remember that?"

There is no response. "Well, father. I was right. I was patient and now I have everything I ever wanted and I have never been happier."

"Me either." Jace chimes in. "You brought a brother and the woman I love into my life and I just want to say thank you for that."

"What the hell is wrong with the two of you?" Father asks. "You do realize that I killed her, right?" and then he chuckles a little.

Once again, instead of Jonathan loosing his cool like Father expected, he just smiles at him. "But that's the thing, Father...you still don't understand that I will always win. I will always get what I want." and then he looks over to me. "Come here, babe." he says with a smile and I start to walk towards his out stretched hand. As I get closer and closer to the cell, I turn my face to it to watch Father's face when he sees me alive.

I finally am able to see him as I get closer and he turns his head to see who is coming. His face is close to the bars but isn't touching them. At first his face is impassive and then I see it register in his mind who he is seeing. His mouth falls open and his eyes widen in absolute shock. "It can't be." he whispers as he starts to look completely freaked out. "I killed you."

I reach Jonathan's hand then and slide my hand into it. I don't look up at him and just keep my eyes on father as I say, "Well apparently...you didn't do a very good job at it." I furrow my brows in thought for a moment and make a show of thinking hard for a moment. "Well, you actually did kill me pretty good but Jonathan and Jace found a way to bring me back."

"That's impossible." he whispers as his eyes never leave me.

"I don't think it is." Jace says with a triumphant tone. "Because here she is, right in front of you."

"You see Father," Jonathan says as he steps closer to the bars, "I always get what I want; one way or another. There is nothing you can do about that no matter how hard you try."

The look on Father's face is almost comical. He thought that he had won by taking away the only thing Jonathan had ever cared about when he killed me. That was his attempt to punish him for betraying him and taking the Clave from him. Thankfully though, I have two incredible and incredibly powerful men who love me and never gave up on me. "How does it feel to be beaten by your own experiments?" I say with my most smug voice. "Your own children? Your very own creations destroyed you. You gave us a common interest to unite against just by being your own horrible self."

"I should have killed you the moment I saw you." Father says venomously. "You turned out to be a whore just like your mother."

Jonathan moves quicker than lightning and reached into the cell and pulls father's face that was close to the bars up against them. There is a sizzling sound as father grunts in pain that soon turn into a scream. "What was that you said, Father? I couldn't hear you past all of your girlish screams."

He screams once more and then Jonathan lets him go and steps away as he falls to the floor and grabs his face. "I think you underestimated how much my men love me." I tell him as I crouch down in front of him on the other side of the cell. "You inadvertently gave me everything I never knew I wanted when you brought me here and then brought Jace here. I have to the love of the two most powerful men in the world and they have all of mine."

He looks at me angrily as I stand up and look to Jace. I scoot over to him and he pulls me into him and gives me a searingly passionate kiss. When he lets me go, I am breathing heavily and Father looks completely unphased. He isn't surprised in the least that me are Jace are together. I then turn to Jonathan who is smiling like a cheshire cat. I sexily walk over to him as I smile up at him. His arm comes down and wraps around my waist and he pulls me to him roughly as his hand comes up and pushes into the hair at the back of my neck. He growls once as he looks down at me lustfully and then he pulls me into a blindingly forceful kiss. I open my mouth eagerly for him and his tongue finds mine and then my hands are all over him. Scratching up his chest and grabbing handfuls of his shirt to pull him closer to me as one of his hands slides down and grabs my ass while he pulls me closer to him with it.

He finally lets me go after a while and both of our eyes as we look at each other are filled with hunger. "I love you." I say to him. He then looks away from me with a triumphant smile over to Father. I turn around and look at him to see his face is a mask of utter shock and horror. I let out a little laugh before I say, "You tampered with our blood so much that we all ended up being some really fucked up individuals. But I wanted to tell you thank you for that. I like being so fucked up because the sex is _fucking amazing_ with them. I _love_ it when Jonathan makes me cum and when Jace touches me in all my most sensitive places."

"You're just as sick as your brother." he mumbles in disbelief as he looks at us.

"Yes, I am." I tell him with a small smile. "And you never saw it coming."

"Did you know, Father," Jonathan says inquisitively as he grabs my hand and I take Jace's on my other side, "that I fucked Clary on your desk and in your bed while you were gone to New York to get Jace? Do you remember the cum filled handkerchief that you found on your desk..." Jonathan trails off as Father's face pales as he realizes what he is trying to tell him.

"Look at his face." Jace says with a chuckle.

"Come on my loves." I tell them as I look up between the two of them. They then both turn their attention to me. "Let's go back upstairs. I am getting a little hungry." I look back down to Father with a smile as I say, "Don't worry. You won't be lonely. I am sure Jonathan will be back down here in no time to keep you company."

Although Father tries to hide it, I can see utter fear as his eyes dart from me and then to Jonathan. "She's right." Jonathan says with a smile. "I will be back down here to keep you company. I promise that I will and I keep my promises. You taught me that, Father. Remember? Never make idle threats."

Jonathan then smiles wickedly at Father and then turns to me. Jace bends down and throws me over his shoulder and I let out a loud laugh as Jonathan reaches up and smacks my ass and we start to climb the stairs. He doesn't set me down until we get to the kitchen where he puts me on top of the counter. Jonathan walks over to me and cups my face and pulls me into a rough kiss. When he finally pulls back, his eyes are alight with fire and happiness. "There is so much to tell you." he says fervently as Jace moves around the kitchen, picking up things to make me a sandwich.

"Like what?" I ask as my hands fall to the waistband of his pants. My fingers slide into it and I pull him closer to me with them.

"Like the Clave is just as we talked about it being." he says with a smile. "A lot of people were upset at first but once they saw what I was doing, they eventually warmed up to the idea."

"What did you do?" I ask, sounding very curious.

"Well, the first thing he did was give the downworlders a seat on the Council." Jace says as I see him close the sandwich he is making and move to get me a drink. "There were a lot of angry people when he did that but, they eventually came around. One way or another."

"That's great." I say with a smile as I look back up to Jonathan. "I knew you would be great." I tell him fervently and give him a quick yet hard kiss.

"Here you go, love." Jace says as he sets down a sandwich next to me. Before I know it, he leans in and gives me a quick and chaste kiss and my eyes immediately dart to Jonathan to gauge his reaction. "It's okay. I swear it." he says to me as he then looks at Jace with a warm smile. "We're all family now. He's my brother and you're my sister and we all can share everything."

I look harder at Jonathan for a moment before I slowly raise my hands back up to his face and cup it between my hands. "Who are you?" I ask him emphatically and with wonder.

Both Jace and Jonathan then let out a loud roll of laughter and then look back down to my amazed eyes. Jonathan is laughing and the sound is so beautiful. It is something that is so rare and yet, I have heard him laugh so much just in the past couple of hours. "I am the man you always told me I could be." Jonathan says as he looks back down at me.

" _Fuck_ , I love you." I tell him lowly as I pull his face back to mine for a searing kiss. When he finally pulls back, he is grinning from ear to ear. "We had Marisol make you some fresh chicken salad every other day in case we were able to wake you up." Jace says and he looks pointedly down at the sandwich he just made.

"You did!" I shout. I love our cook's chicken salad. It's one of my most favorite things in the world. I grab the sandwich and inspect it for a second before taking a huge bite of it. I close my eyes as the flavor fills my mouth and then I smile. "You two are da beft." I say through the giant wad of food in my mouth. They both give me a warm smile then and I suddenly know that I am the luckiest woman in the world.

* * *

 **Seven years later...**

" _Fuck,_ Jace." I say as I slide down onto him. His fingers involuntarily clench on my hips as his eyes close and his head falls back onto the couch that is in the main bedroom. He slides into me and fills me up as I lower onto him from above. "Fuck." I let out again in a sort of moan. I look back down at his face and see that he has a small smile and a sort of relieved look on his face while his eye are closed. I begin to move my hips on top of him and he lets out a long sigh of pleasure as my fingers begin to dig into his chest.

His hands grip my hips tighter and he starts to pull my hips to him with each thrust I give him. He opens his eyes and lifts his head up and takes one of my nipples into his mouth. One of my hands fly to his hair and grabs a fistful of it as his tongue flicks my nipple. The other hand is bracing myself up against the back of the couch beside is head as I fuck him. I start to ride him harder and harder until my eyes roll to the back of my head in pleasure and that is when I hear the door open. Both of our eyes snap open and we look to my right and see Jonathan coming in the room. He looks tired and like he has had a long day.

His eyes land on me and Jace and they narrow for a fraction of a second as he sees us before I reach out my hand to him. "I want you, Jonathan." I moan out as I start to roll my hips against Jace again, regaining the momentum that I was building up to. His eyes darken with lust and his hands go to his weapons belt. He unbuckles it and his eyes turn dark as he slowly starts to walk towards us on the couch. As he walks, he is discarding his clothing, piece by piece, letting it make a trail of clothing from the door to us. All the while, I never stop rocking my hips back and forth on Jace and never breaking eye contact with Jonathan.

When he reaches us, he is just in his boxers. I turn my body and reach out and shove them down and over his hips and his erection pops out and hits me in the face. I hurriedly wrap one of my hands around it and then pull him into my mouth. He lets out a groan of pleasure as I start to bounce my head up and down his shaft. One of his hands comes down and starts to play with my breasts. He gives my nipple a rough pinch that makes me groan out a pain and pleasure filled moan around his dick that is in my mouth. Jonathan grabs the back of my head and starts to push and pull my head up and down his shaft while sucking in a sharp breath. "You are so good at that baby." Jonathan murmurs as Jace pulls my hips forward on him.

Jonathan then pulls back and bends over to give me a rough kiss as one hand goes down and rubs my ass. He sticks two fingers in my ass to stretch my muscles for a minute while kissing me. I feel Jace's hands let go of my hips and slide up my body to cup my breasts. After a minute, Jonathan is satisfied that I am ready for him and goes around behind me. I lean forward pressing my chest up against Jace's as he captures my lips in a soft kiss. He holds my face to his as I feel Jonathan's dick start to press up against my ass cheeks. He spreads me and grunts like a feral animal as he sees Jace moving in and out of me.

After a minute of watching, Jonathan then pushes inside of me and I toss my head back as the feeling of being completely full engulfs me. They both hold still for a second so I can adjust and then I lift off of Jace a little and I begin to move up and down. I close my eyes and bite my lip as I push them back inside of me. The feeling of them spreading me at the same time is so wonderfully all-consuming. Jonathan's hand reaches around as he leans forward a little and his fingers find my clit. As I bounce up and down, his fingers start send waves of pleasure out from that spot that mix wonderfully with the already full feeling of both of my men inside of me. Jace's hands come up and start to play with my breasts while one of my hands is behind him, bracing myself on the couch. The other is on top of Jonathan's other hand that is on my hip as he helps pull me into them faster and harder.

Jonathan's face dips down and his mouth ghosts across the skin of my neck as he finds a good place to leave his mark on me. He bites my neck and then sucks it harshly as I yell out. I am starting to build up and my breathing is becoming more and more ragged with each push into them. "Be still." Jace murmurs. "Let us finish you off."

I stop myself as Jonathan's fingers push me over that edge and I scream my release loudly. "Fuck!" I yell out as I cum. The moment I am done, Jonathan wraps his hand around my neck and makes me arch my back as he pulls the top part of me to him and I am looking up at him as the top of my head rests on his chest. He has pulled me into a sort of back bend while him and Jace are still inside of me and the feeling of fullness makes my body shudder with pleasure. He leans down and kisses me roughly as I brace myself. One hand on the back of the couch while one hand is on Jace's shoulder as he turns his head to kiss it.

They both pull out and then shove back in in unison, making me bounce. I let out a moan into Jonathan's mouth and he growls as he becomes even more turned on. He loves it when I moan into him. The boys take it slow at first and then they are thrusting in and out of me roughly as I just moan out one long and strangled moan after the other. Jace is lifting himself up and into me while Jonathan pushes into me from behind. They are moving in perfect sync with each other, just like they always do, while I reap the benefits. I squeeze my eyes shut as I feel my peak coming on. Jace's fingers find my nipples as Jonathan reaches back around and starts to play with me some more. "Don't close them." Jonathan says roughly to me. "I want you to look me in the eyes as we make you cum."

I force my eyes open and meet his darkened lust filled ones as they speed up. "Oh... _fuuuck_." I moan out as I feel it coming. My eyes want to close so bad but I manage to keep them open as I start to orgasm. I let out a long and loud pleasure filled scream as Jonathan smiles wickedly at me. The waves of pleasure run hard and fast through me as I feel them slide in and out of me roughly. After a long minute, I finally finish and am left a panting mess. "Cum for me baby." I say to Jonathan through my ragged breaths. "Anything for you, baby sister." Jonathan says and then dips his head to kiss me roughly before letting me go.

I fall back onto Jace's chest and look up at him. "Cum for me." I say sexily to him. His golden eyes darken as he pulls my mouth to his. His fingers slide around and into my hair as he deepens our kiss. They are both pounding into me as Jonathan holds my hips steady. Jace never lets me go as he starts to moan out his release into me; screaming into my mouth. Jonathan is only about two seconds behind Jace and he grunts his pleasure out loudly as his fingers dig into the skin of my hips. Jace turns his head away from me as he pants and I lean in to kiss him along his jaw and whisper, "I love you." into his ear.

Jonathan holds me still for a minute longer before he pulls out of me. I whine a little at the loss of him and then I am lifting up and off of Jace after a few more kisses. I hurry over to the bathroom and clean myself up as Jonathan and Jace follow me and clean themselves up at the double sinks. "You look like you have had a long day, babe." I say as I come up and wrap my arms around Jonathan from behind.

"I have." he says as he dries his hands off and turns around in my arms. "The Seelie Queen still wants me to bed her in order for her assistance with the rogue young warlocks that are terrorizing South Korea."

"That _fucking_ cunt." I say angrily. "I have half a mind to go deal with her myself."

"Don't be crazy." Jace says as he comes up and kisses me on the top of my head as he passes us. "You know you can't do that."

"Do I really though?" I ask as I pull back and look up at Jonathan. "The last time I checked I was married to the head of the Clave and am in a long standing relationship with the second in command."

"You know you are more than 'just married to the head'." Jonathan says exasperatedly. "You and I _are_ the head of the Clave...together."

I huff out a long breath. "I know." I tell him. "I just feel useless when it comes to problems like the Seelie Queen. She thinks she can just fuck whoever she wants. Well not you." I tell Jonathan as I grab him by his dick. "This," I say as I hold him up, "is _mine_." Jonathan then lets out a low and amused laugh as he bends down and kisses me once more before smacking me on my ass. He then turns and starts to walk out of the bathroom and I follow.

"Can the both of you stay with me tonight?" I ask my men. Jace is pulling his sweatpants back on and Jonathan is walking to his dresser to get some. It took Jonathan two and a half years, us getting married, and me being pregnant with his baby before he joined me and Jace for the first time. He walked in on us in the library and wanted to join. Jace was a little hesitant at first but he quickly realized that he liked seeing my face as him and Jonathan fucked me at the same time. He said that my face 'went to a whole other level' that turned him on like he had never been turned on before. Jonathan likes to, as he says 'fill me to my limits'. I think he does it because it makes him feel powerful somehow. Although Jonathan has made massive strides in expanding his emotional capacity, he still has to satisfy the demon side of him and that is fine by me if it means amazing sex with the both of them at the same time. It only happens maybe once or twice a month because we like to maintain our own relationships but when it does, it is a special treat for me.

Jonathan looks to Jace and Jace gives him a nod of agreement and then Jonathan turns back to me. "We'll both stay with you." Jonathan says with a smile. I jump once in excitement and smile as Jonathan rolls his eyes. I usually stay with Jonathan three nights and Jace three nights and them both the last night all in the same huge bed. Although we have been spending more nights all together lately. Sometimes if Jonathan is having a bad night, he will come and join Jace and I on our night and sleep on the couch in the room just so he can be near me and doesn't push our carefully placed boundaries by still letting us have 'our night'.

I walk over to my dresser and pull out a long silk spaghetti strap night gown that goes to my knees and then climb into bed. Jace lays in front of me and gives me a soft sweet kiss as Jonathan lays down behind me. I snuggle into Jace's chest as Jonathan lays his long body against my back. I love nights like these.

After about five minutes, Jonathan's soft snores begin to fill the room and Jace chuckles a little. "I swear his snores get louder the older he gets." he says and I let a little laugh out. Jonathan stirs a little and then I see the door creak open. I look up and over Jace's body to see five year old Jonny (mine and Jonathan's son) opening the door. He is a spitting image of Jonathan but with my green eyes. His white blonde hair is ruffled from sleep and then I see three year old Nathaniel (mine and Jace's son) step through behind Jonny. He is also a spitting image of his father. He even has his golden eyes. I don't think he inherited one thing from me.

"What's the matter darlings?" I ask them as they walk toward us holding hands. "Nathan had a bad dream." Jonny explains and Nathan clutches his favorite blanky tighter to himself.

"Oh no, little buddy." Jace says and sits up and reaches out and picks little Nathan up. "Was it about the Eilodon demon again?" he asks and he nods his little head yes as a tear rolls down his cute little face. Jonny climbs up on the bed and over to me and I wrap my arms around him as he lays down with me. Jonathan sits up and rubs his head and bends over me and gives him a kiss and then lays back down. "Do you want to stay with me, mommy, and daddy Jonathan?" Jace asks him and he nods his head yes again.

Jace starts to lay down with him as we scoot over to make room and then Sera starts to cry over the baby monitor. I close my eyes and sigh heavily and then pull myself out of bed and start to walk next door to her room. My mom comes around the corner then with a bottle for her. "Is it time for her to eat again?" I ask and she smiles gently at me. "No, but she is a ravenous little beast." she says lovingly with a laugh as we both go into her room.

It took mom a seriously long time to accept mine and Jonathan's relationship. She was horrified and angry and everything else an upset person could be when I told her. It was the first time she saw little Jonny when he was three months old at my persistence that she finally came around. Before that, we hadn't talked in over a year because of it. After she saw him though, she realized that her grandchildren and her children were more important than whatever she felt about mine and Jonathan's relationship. Grandbabies are definitely her weakness. She spends a couple of nights here a week so she can help out with them since we are so busy with the Clave all of the time.

I walk over to the crib and see that she has pulled herself into a standing position and has a couple of tears running down her face. "Is someone a hungry little girl?" I ask in my baby voice as I scoop her up and into my arms. She immediately stops crying and smiles widely at me with her green eyes. She is the spitting image of me and I have no idea who her father is and neither do Jace or Jonathan. I think it is better that way though. "Faker." I mutter as she claps me on the face as she smiles.

"You sure do know how to work us." Jocelyn says as she hands me the bottle. "You got her?"

"Yeah. Jonny and Nathan are already in bed with us. What's one more?" I ask with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Goodnight little Miss. Drama Queen." Mom says and gives her a kiss on her chubby little cheek. "C'mon big girl." I say as I lean her back and give her her bottle. She takes it between her two tiny chubby hands and I smile widely at her. "You're lucky you're so cute." I tell her as we leave her room and come back into the bedroom.

"Was she hungry?" Jonathan asks as I shut the door behind me and walk over to the bed.

"No. She was faking so she could get out of bed and get another bottle."

Jace and Jonathan let out a little laugh as Jonathan holds his hands out for her. "I'll take the chunky monkey." he says with wide smile. I hand her over to him and he beams down at her as she beams back up at him as some of the milk spills out of her mouth from her wide smile. Jace leans over and kisses her on her head and then leans back to his spot as I lay back down between them. Jonny snuggles up to me as Jace pulls the covers over us and Nathan lays cuddled up next to Jace.

I look to my left and then to my right and think about the wonderful life we've built and how extremely happy I am. I have loved every second of it and I wouldn't change one thing about it.

* * *

 **I have been beta-ing for AlesiaJ89 and I _seriously_ suggest going and checking out her stories. They always have me hooked from the first chapter and I know you will be too if you check them out. **

**Till next time...adios!**


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